Description
Use CAD/CAM software to design and prepare dental prosthetics and appliances from digital impressions, ensuring accurate fit, occlusion, and readiness for milling or 3D printing.
- • Interpret prescriptions and case notes; review scans, models, or impressions to define design parameters.
- • Create and modify digital designs for dentures, crowns, bridges, inlays/onlays, and orthodontic appliances.
- • Validate fit, occlusion, and contacts using digital articulators and analysis tools.
- • Set up cases on virtual articulators and simulate jaw movements to evaluate function.
- • Prepare CAM-ready files; nest, orient, and generate toolpaths or print builds.
- • Select materials and strategies; assign milling blocks, alloys, or printable resins and set machine profiles.
- • Design frameworks, connectors, and bonding surfaces with proper offsets for porcelain or composite layering.
- • Apply digital smoothing, reliefs, and finish allowances to facilitate post-processing and polishing.
- • Generate and clean digital models from intraoral or desktop scans; align arches and section dies.
- • Produce digital wax-ups and tooth setups using libraries and dentist specifications.
- • Sculpt gingival contours and create thickness maps or cutback guides for layering.
- • Repair meshes; fill voids, close margins, and enforce minimum thickness requirements.
- • Design custom trays, bite rims, night guards, and surgical guides from scan data.
- • Design denture bases, borders, and flanges with appropriate reliefs for retention and comfort.
- • Document designs, revision history, and case notes; perform QA checks against prescriptions.
- • Train or support technicians on CAD/CAM workflows, libraries, and troubleshooting.
- • Collaborate with milling and printing staff to review outcomes and refine designs for remakes or repairs.
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Tasks & skills:
O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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Last reviewed: Jan 2026
