How do we save the dental technology workforce? It’s the question running through David Smith’s session at Dentistry Technology Showcase 2026. His answer is very clearly apprenticeships. 

Smith, dental technology lecturer at Yeovil College, makes a compelling case for the earn-while-you-learn apprenticeship model as the most promising route to reversing a decline in GDC-registered dental technicians that has been building for nearly two decades. His call to action is for every dental laboratory – private and NHS – to employ at least one apprentice as a professional norm. 

The workforce crisis 

Despite widespread reporting of a ‘dentist shortage’, Smith argues the real issue is the shortage of dental technicians. General Dental Council (GDC) figures show that dentist numbers have actually increased since Covid-19, while registered dental technicians have fallen by 33% since statutory registration began in 2008. 

Smith describes a bleak landscape of low pay, stagnation and deskilling, with qualified technicians migrating to clinical dental technician roles and Covid-19 acting as the ‘final killer’ – labs left without the support extended to NHS dentists.  

The end of the BTEC diploma for dental technicians also shifted focus entirely to degree-level programmes, cutting off access for students who couldn’t take that route. This has led to a rise in demand for roles but a falling supply of qualified technicians, impacting services as well as long-standing vacancies and regional hiring gaps. 

The image problem 

Smith believes dental technology has an ‘image problem’ – not perceived as creative or prestigious enough, with some schools and colleges largely never having heard of it as a career option. One student quoted in his presentation said: “I didn’t even know this job existed until I was 21.” 

Apprenticeships, Smith argues, could change this. Flexible for students and practical by design, they are open to people at different life stages, and the model allows labs to recruit more broadly too. “Career progression is not linear,” he says. “You can step in or out at any point depending on your experience and career goals.” 

At Yeovil College, Smith has helped develop a programme that is 80% workplace-based and 20% college-based, with blended delivery (some online, some in person) to open up access for distance learners. Crucially, the curriculum is shaped with industry input. “Laboratories must help shape future technicians,” he says. “Placement opportunities are essential.” 

On funding, Smith explains that the government currently offers a £2,000 incentive to employers hiring apprentices aged 16-24, as part of a drive to create 50,000 more apprenticeships from October 2026.  

A call to action 

As well as a nationwide promotion of dental apprenticeships, Smith encouraged delegates to recruit and employ apprentices – to mentor, support and enthuse them. 

“Teach them about the profession,” he says, so apprentices can “appreciate the importance of designing and manufacturing dental devices.” If every lab in the country took on one apprentice, he added, the decline could be reversed. 

“Only together can we develop the skills, knowledge, understanding, professionalism, analysis, evaluation, design and creativity that makes a dental technician,” he concluded. 

Join us later this year for more sessions like this. Register your interest for the Dentistry Show London 2026 across 9-10 October at Excel London.