Pharmacy technician to dental technician
A pharmacy technician already meets 55% of what the dental technician role asks for. The move turns on 10 required skills not yet in the profile.
51.7/ 100
1 How much of what a dental technician is expected to do is already part of a pharmacy technician’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the dental technician role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A dental technician role treats 13 of its required skills as things a pharmacy technician already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- accept own accountability
- apply organisational techniques
- communicate in healthcare
- comply with legislation related to health care
- contribute to continuity of health care
- ensure safety of healthcare users
What stands in the way is 10 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 15 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A dental technician role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a pharmacy technician background worth leading with.
- already held communicate in foreign languages with health service providers communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held inform policy makers on health-related challenges communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held use e-health and mobile health technologies working with computers
- already held respond to changing situations in health care management skills
- already held contribute to continuity of health care assisting and caring
- already held follow clinical guidelines assisting and caring
All 15 carried skills, including the 13 the dental technician role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 13 missing skills fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn manufacture dental prostheses required
- still to learn polish dental prostheses required
- still to learn repair denture prostheses required
- still to learn select materials for orthodontic appliances required
- still to learn manipulate dental material required
- still to learn examine dental models and impressions required
- still to learn test dental appliances for compliance required
- still to learn follow dentists' instructions required
- optional, not held train dental technician staff optional
- still to learn manage infection control in the facility required
- still to learn maintain laboratory dental tools required
- optional, not held supervise dental technician staff optional
- optional, not held handle payments in dentistry optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a dental technician role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 examine dental models and impressions practise this
- 02 manufacture dental prostheses practise this
- 03 polish dental prostheses practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 15 skills that carry over
- already held accept own accountability skill
- already held apply organisational techniques skill
- already held communicate in healthcare skill
- already held comply with legislation related to health care skill
- already held contribute to continuity of health care skill
- already held ensure safety of healthcare users skill
- already held follow clinical guidelines skill
- already held listen actively skill
- already held promote inclusion skill
- already held respond to changing situations in health care skill
- already held use e-health and mobile health technologies skill
- already held work in a multicultural environment in health care skill
- already held work in multidisciplinary health teams skill
- already held communicate in foreign languages with health service providers skill
- already held inform policy makers on health-related challenges skill
3 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held supervise dental technician staff optional
- optional, not held train dental technician staff optional
- optional, not held handle payments in dentistry optional
37 held skills the dental technician role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role adhere to organisational guidelines skill
- not needed by the target role advise on healthcare users' informed consent skill
- not needed by the target role advise on poisoning incidents skill
- not needed by the target role apply context specific clinical competences skill
- not needed by the target role check information on prescriptions skill
- not needed by the target role communicate by telephone skill
- not needed by the target role communicate with customers skill
- not needed by the target role comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice skill
- not needed by the target role deal with emergency care situations skill
- not needed by the target role develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship skill
- not needed by the target role educate on the prevention of illness skill
- not needed by the target role empathise with the healthcare user skill
- not needed by the target role ensure quality assurance for pharmaceutical products skill
- not needed by the target role ensure the appropriate supply in pharmacy skill
- not needed by the target role follow procedures to control substances hazardous to health skill
- not needed by the target role handle the logistics of medicinal products skill
- not needed by the target role interact with healthcare users skill
- not needed by the target role maintain adequate medication storage conditions skill
- not needed by the target role maintain pharmaceutical records skill
- not needed by the target role manage healthcare users' data skill
- not needed by the target role manage schedule of tasks skill
- not needed by the target role medicines for self-medication knowledge
- not needed by the target role obtain healthcare user's medical status information skill
- not needed by the target role operate cash register skill
- not needed by the target role prepare doses of medication according to patient needs skill
- not needed by the target role prepare intravenous packs skill
- not needed by the target role prepare medication from prescription skill
- not needed by the target role prepare prescription labels skill
- not needed by the target role process medical insurance claims skill
- not needed by the target role provide health education skill
- not needed by the target role provide medication information skill
- not needed by the target role provide pharmaceutical advice skill
- not needed by the target role refer healthcare users skill
- not needed by the target role report medication interaction to pharmacist skill
- not needed by the target role take pharmaceutical inventory skill
- not needed by the target role transfer medication skill
- not needed by the target role use foreign languages for health-related research skill
Common questions about this move
Can a pharmacy technician become a dental technician?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A pharmacy technician already covers 55% of what a dental technician is expected to do: 15 skills carry over, 13 of which the dental technician role treats as required.
What skills does a pharmacy technician need to become a dental technician?
10 required skills are missing, plus 3 optional ones. They fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by handling and moving. The single most important is examine dental models and impressions.
How hard is the move from pharmacy technician to dental technician?
Its learning distance is 51.7 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.