Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between finishing technicians and denture technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a finishing technician and a denture technician. Additionally, a denture technician has an average salary of $42,557, which is higher than the $35,050 average annual salary of a finishing technician.
The top three skills for a finishing technician include hand tools, grinders and pallets. The most important skills for a denture technician are dentures, relines, and prosthetics.
| Finishing Technician | Denture Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $35,050 | $42,557 |
| Hourly rate | $16.85 | $20.46 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 43,972 | 6,414 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 39% | Associate Degree, 44% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
With great attention to detail, a finishing technician must have the ability to use all the machinery provided to finish a job. Finishing technicians must work long hours on sketches, blueprints, and other specifications. They must execute quality work to deadlines and adapt to changes that might occur between process implementations. They are responsible for training staff on machines and troubleshooting when issues arise. They are also responsible for quality control on finished products.
A denture technician specializes in molding and creating metal or non-metal dentures, crowns, and bridges. They typically use models of the patients' mouth as a basis and utilize computer-aided software to design dentures according to the patients' needs. Besides creating, they may also repair or re-adjust dentures and assist patients' by answering inquiries, explaining the extent of procedures, and offering other products and services. Furthermore, a denture technician can usually be found at dental offices, clinics, and even hospitals.
Finishing technicians and denture technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Finishing Technician | Denture Technician | |
| Average salary | $35,050 | $42,557 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $43,000 | Between $26,000 And $67,000 |
| Highest paying City | Baton Rouge, LA | - |
| Highest paying state | Montana | - |
| Best paying company | Promega | - |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | - |
There are a few differences between a finishing technician and a denture technician in terms of educational background:
| Finishing Technician | Denture Technician | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 39% | Associate Degree, 44% |
| Most common major | Business | Dental Assisting |
| Most common college | University of Southern California | University of Michigan - Ann Arbor |
Here are the differences between finishing technicians' and denture technicians' demographics:
| Finishing Technician | Denture Technician | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 68.4% Female, 31.6% | Male, 57.9% Female, 42.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 15.6% Asian, 8.4% White, 63.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 19.2% Asian, 9.4% White, 58.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |