Have you considered becoming a Certified Dental Technician (CDT)?

I had been thinking it over for a while before I made the commitment earlier this year. The CDT program is a certification program facilitated by the National Board for Certification in Dental Laboratory Technology (NBC), an independent certification organization, which was founded by the National Association of Dental Laboratories (NADL) in 1955. The certification process requires successful completion of 3 exams: a written comprehensive, a written specialty and a specialty practical exam.

I recently took both the comprehensive and specialty (written) exams, and passed. This feat could not have been accomplished without PTC (training). I’d like to share a little about the experience, and how useful PTC training and materials are to CDT exam preparation.

Though I have chosen Ceramics as my area of specialty, regardless of the area of specialty, the written comprehensive exam consists of 160 questions about every specialty area of the dental lab, including but not limited to:

1. Crown & Bridge
2. Ceramics
3. Partial Dentures
4. Complete Dentures, and
5. Orthodontics.

I went into the fixed crown & bridge portion with confidence, thanks to my PTC training and previous experience. This training provided me with a solid foundation in dental laboratory technology. The vocabulary that is taught in the PTC programs is essential, and the standard procedures are irreplaceable. Though each of the PTC modules has been key to my test prep; I would have been lacking without the hands-on application experience that a PTC hands-on, technical course provides.

Considering my lack of technical experience as a removable technician, I was less confident about the Dentures portion of the test (which the test does not skimp on, by the way). In addition to a manual recommended by the NADL, I relied heavily upon my PTC Creating Natural Dentures (CND) material. The Oral Anatomy and Physiology portion of CND is invaluable, and may be found not only in any of the CND training modules, but as a separate online training course.

The essential vocabulary I previously mentioned may be acquired through many of our products, including:

• Online courses
• Ness Visual Dictionary
• Techbook series
• Tech Master modules or
• The TVS program.

The hands-on experience may be acquired by registering for one of our upcoming technical courses.

If you are considering becoming a Certified Dental Techncian, and are looking for materials to aid in your preparation, you are in the right place. Let PTC help you, as it has helped me.