It has to start someplace

No disrespect to those technicians who answer to "lab guy" or "my lab guy" or "lab man", by dentist and dental clients, but personally I have never really responded well to that moniker since my very first days working as a technician. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was an "in house" technician during laboratory school and after graduation, and got to see the body language associated to the term when it was used. I always felt it was used in a demeaning or minimizing fashion, especially when prefaced by the word "MY".

I am a dental laboratory technician and proud of the full title. Look, dentists dont call their hygenists "my gum gardener" or "tissue woman", and I never heard an assistant refered to as "my spit sucker" or "my instrument sterilizer", at least not to their face.

I have always believed that part of feeling good about what a person does for a living starts with how they refer to themselves. It also has a direct effect on what we feel we can charge for our talents. Dental technologist in any specialty branch are the "lifes blood" for most dental practices. Its us they call upon when they have a technical question regarding design, or in many cases, depend on our expertise with "minimal" direction to design and fabricate a case to completion. I think that kind of faith in our ability calls for at least a modicum of respect, starting with what we are called.

If none of this seems to bother you, thats fine.
As I have said before, this is my blog, and if you dont agree, change the channel.