This is a cool thread! I have actually been looking for a job as a dental lab tech for a few months now. I think I've talked to about 50 dental labs in my area, but unfortunately all the dental labs here in my area are small and family owned, so no one was hiring. The two dental labs that are actually big, accepted my resume, but they were not looking for someone with no experience...and I don't have any aside from pouring out models and making night gaurds and bleaching trays from my job as an assistant.
Also, I have heard from others that it gets really boring working at a dental lab, since you don't get to interact with people and they're small. I was also told since I had no experience I'd be doing all the running around work. Basically what KenKim said. So, I knew that looking into it, but I wanted a different feel of the dental world.
The reason I even wanted to work as a dental lab tech is because I already have had 2.5 years of dental assisting experience and a friend of mine who just recently graduated from dental school suggested that I find a job as a lab tech (since I moved and was looking for one) as he said lab work is a huge part of dschool so i could get a good head start on it. Unfortunately, that didn't work out for me cuz of the area I live in.
Also, I get where your coming from about no one wanting to hire an assistant without experience. I ran into the SAME problem when I first started looking; every dentist wanted an assistant that had 1-2 yrs of experience and X-ray certified, and a bunch of other qualifications that, at the time, i didn't understand. So what I did was I coughed up my own money and took a class to get xray certified. After that i continued to apply to a million jobs (even though they wanted someone with experience). I don't know if that will work, but I have known for it to work for people. For me, it didn't. I got my job through networking. My physics lab partner and I were texting and I told her I was pre-dental, she told me she worked in a dental office. The next day in class she told me to send in my resume, that day i got an interview and got the job. I was very lucky--but my point is....ask around if you know someone in a dental office. They don't even have to be close to you or even your age...just ask, maybe they can help out. I did have about 60 something hours of shadowing before my job. You could also ask your dental office if they know of a local dental office that will hire someone with no experience.
But don't give up. I applied to a lotttt of places, and it took a while. Ask around. Go to a dental office near ur house, ask if they are looking for an assistant (most likely they aren't) but then after that ask them if they know of an office that may be hiring....There's bound to be a dentist out there willing to help you. You may have to sacrifice your pay, but the experience is worth it!
