Dental Materials and Laboratory Procedures

Course Description

Dental Materials and Laboratory Procedures introduces the physical and chemical properties of the materials used in dental practice and provides supervised instruction and practice in manipulating those materials and performing minor dental laboratory procedures. Students learn why a material behaves as it does — setting reactions, dimensional change, thermal and mechanical properties, biocompatibility — and then learn to mix, place, finish, and evaluate it to a clinical standard.

Within the SCNS taxonomy, DES is the Dental Support Services prefix, and the 0-level number identifies this as a postsecondary adult vocational (PSAV) clock-hour course, not a college-credit course. It is measured in 90 clock hours and carries zero college credits. It is offered at approximately five Florida institutions within PSAV Dental Assisting programs, and enrollment is restricted to admitted program students.

The course is a hybrid by design: roughly half classroom instruction in materials science and half hands-on laboratory work. The laboratory component is the reason for the substantial lab fee most institutions attach to it — Daytona State's is $99.00 — because students consume real impression material, gypsum, acrylic, and restorative products throughout.

Learning Outcomes

Required Outcomes

• Describe the physical and chemical properties that determine how dental materials perform: setting reaction, dimensional stability, thermal expansion, strength, hardness, solubility, and biocompatibility.
• Select and prepare appropriate impression materials — alginate, polyvinyl siloxane, polyether — and take diagnostic-quality impressions where permitted by scope.
• Mix, pour, and trim gypsum products to produce accurate diagnostic casts free of voids and distortion.
• Fabricate custom trays and provisional (temporary) restorations to clinical tolerances.
• Manipulate dental cements and liners, selecting the correct material for the clinical situation and mixing to the correct consistency.
• Prepare and transfer direct restorative materials, including composite resin and dental amalgam, following manufacturer instructions.
• Apply infection-control principles to laboratory operations, including disinfection of impressions, prostheses, and equipment moving between clinic and laboratory.
• Interpret a Safety Data Sheet and apply OSHA Hazard Communication requirements to the dental laboratory.
• Handle, store, and dispose of dental materials in compliance with manufacturer instructions and applicable environmental regulation.
• Evaluate the quality of a completed laboratory product and identify the procedural cause of a defect.

Optional Outcomes

• Fabricate bleaching trays, mouthguards, and custom trays for whitening or fluoride application.
• Perform basic denture repair and reline procedures where within program scope.
• Describe the workflow and materials used in CAD/CAM and intraoral-scanning restorative systems.
• Describe the composition and handling of dental ceramics and cast metal alloys.
• Prepare and manipulate orthodontic materials, including bonding adhesives and appliance acrylics.

Major Topics

Required Topics

• Properties of dental materials: mechanical, thermal, optical, chemical, and biological
• The oral environment as a service environment: moisture, temperature cycling, pH, occlusal load
• Impression materials: hydrocolloids, elastomers, selection, manipulation, and disinfection
• Gypsum products: types, water-to-powder ratio, pouring, separating, and trimming
• Acrylic resins: custom trays, provisionals, and appliance fabrication
• Dental cements, bases, liners, and varnishes; luting versus restorative applications
• Composite resins: composition, curing, shade selection, placement, and finishing
• Dental amalgam: composition, trituration, handling, and mercury hygiene
• Bonding systems: enamel and dentin adhesion, etching, and generational differences
• Preventive materials: sealants, fluoride products, and desensitizers
• Laboratory equipment: model trimmer, vibrator, vacuum former, lathe, and articulator
• Infection control in the dental laboratory and the clinic–laboratory asepsis boundary
• Occupational safety: Hazard Communication, Safety Data Sheets, personal protective equipment
• Waste handling and environmental compliance, including amalgam waste

Optional Topics

• Dental ceramics, all-ceramic systems, and cast metal alloys
• CAD/CAM, intraoral scanning, milling, and 3D printing workflows
• Removable prosthodontic materials, denture repair, and relines
• Whitening systems and tray fabrication
• Orthodontic and pediatric materials
• Implant restorative components and materials

Resources & Tools

• Dental Materials: Properties and Manipulation (Powers, Wataha) — the standard concise text for assisting and hygiene programs.
• Modern Dental Assisting (Bird, Robinson) — the comprehensive assisting text; its materials chapters are commonly assigned alongside laboratory sessions.
• Manufacturer instructions for use (IFU) — the operative authority for every material handled. Students should be taught to read the IFU as a primary source, not the textbook summary.
• Safety Data Sheets (SDS) for every product in the laboratory, maintained as required by the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard (29 CFR 1910.1200).
• Laboratory equipment: vacuum former, model trimmer, vibrator, dental lathe, curing lights, amalgamator, articulators.
• ADA and ANSI/ADA specifications for dental materials, and ISO standards where cited by manufacturers.
• DANB (Dental Assisting National Board) review materials, for students continuing toward the CDA credential.

Career Pathways

• Dental assistant in general or specialty practice — the direct destination of the PSAV program this course belongs to.
• Expanded functions dental assistant — additional Florida-approved training permits duties such as placing and finishing restorations under supervision, with a corresponding pay increase.
• Dental laboratory technician — this course is the first genuine exposure to the trade; technicians work in commercial labs or in-house within larger practices, and Florida has a substantial laboratory sector serving its retiree population.
• Dental sales and manufacturer support — materials knowledge is the qualifying skill for territory sales and clinical education roles with dental product companies.
• Bridge to further credentials — many students use dental assisting as the entry point to dental hygiene (DEH) programs, which are competitive and favor applicants with chairside experience.
• SOC code 31-9091 Dental Assistants; laboratory technicians fall under 51-9081 Dental and Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians.

Special Information

⚠ This is a PSAV clock-hour course — it does not transfer as college credit

DES0103C is measured in 90 clock hours with zero college credit. PSAV coursework does not transfer to a college-credit program the way a 1000- or 2000-level course does. What exists instead is articulation: Florida's statewide and local articulation agreements, including the Gold Standard Career Pathways, may award credit toward a related A.S. degree for completion of an entire PSAV program or occupational completion point — not for individual courses, and not automatically. Students who intend to continue into an A.S. or into dental hygiene should ask the receiving institution, in writing, what the program will accept before assuming anything.

⚠ Chemical and dust exposure — the safety content that is genuinely under-taught

The dental laboratory contains real occupational hazards, and students routinely underestimate them because the quantities look small.

• Methyl methacrylate monomer, used in acrylic tray and provisional fabrication, is a potent sensitizer and a respiratory and skin irritant. Sensitization is cumulative and permanent — once a person reacts, they react for life, and it has ended careers. Work under ventilation, and do not handle monomer with bare hands; ordinary latex and vinyl gloves do not reliably resist it.
• Respirable crystalline silica is produced when trimming models and grinding investment materials. This is the same hazard OSHA regulates in construction and foundries under 29 CFR 1910.1053. Wet trimming and local exhaust are not optional refinements.
• Dental amalgam requires mercury hygiene during handling and, at disposal, compliance with the EPA Dental Office Category rule (40 CFR Part 441), which requires amalgam separators and prohibits flushing amalgam waste to the sewer. Amalgam waste is also a Florida environmental compliance matter.
• Curing light output is an eye hazard; use the shield or protective eyewear rather than looking away.

The habit worth building in this course is reading the Safety Data Sheet before first use of any product, not after an incident.

⚠ Florida career-honesty note: Florida does not license dental assistants

This is the single most important thing a prospective student should understand before enrolling, and it is rarely stated plainly. Florida does not require a dental assistant to be licensed, certified, or formally educated to work chairside. Florida law permits on-the-job training for general assisting duties, and many Florida practices hire and train assistants with no program at all. Completing this program is therefore not a legal prerequisite for the job.

What the program actually buys is different, and still worth having: expanded duties and radiography. Florida does regulate specific functions — dental radiography requires board-approved training under § 466.024, F.S. and Rule 64B5-9, F.A.C., and expanded functions require documented training — and formal program completion is the ordinary route to both, plus eligibility for the DANB Certified Dental Assistant (CDA) credential, faster hiring, better starting pay, and a credible application to a dental hygiene program. Enroll with that understanding, not with the belief that the credential is legally required. Requirements are amended periodically; verify current rules with the Florida Board of Dentistry.

Position in the program and course format

DES0103C is typically taken in the first or second term of a PSAV Dental Assisting program, after the introductory course (DES0002 at Daytona State) and alongside chairside assisting (Daytona State designates DEA0020C as a corequisite). It is offered in fall at Daytona State. Expect graded laboratory practicals in which a physical product — a cast, a custom tray, a provisional crown — is measured against clinical tolerances. Written examinations cover materials science; practical examinations cover manipulation. Both must be passed.

Clock hours vary across Florida — check the program, not the number

PSAV dental assisting programs sequence their occupational completion points differently, and the clock-hour value attached to a given DES number is not uniform statewide. The 90-hour figure here reflects Daytona State's published catalog. Related courses in the same family at other Florida institutions run materially different hours, and some institutions fold materials content into a broader chairside course rather than teaching it separately. Read the program's published FLDOE curriculum framework and its own catalog rather than assuming the number implies the hours.