Caroline Kirkpatrick

Special guest

Caroline Kirkpatrick is a Clinical Dental Technician and dental technologist with more than 30 years of experience in the profession. She is Director of OTS Dental Laboratory, a small family-run dental laboratory in Scotland, where she continues to work hands-on across removable prosthetics, digital dentistry and implant workflows.

Caroline’s career has included being part of an important chapter in the development of Clinical Dental Technology in the UK. She was one of just four dental technicians selected for the first Clinical Dental Technology course in the UK and is incredibly proud to have become the first female Clinical Dental Technician in Scotland.

Working both at the laboratory bench and directly with patients has given Caroline a unique perspective on the relationship between technician, clinician and patient. She is passionate about ensuring that, as dentistry becomes increasingly digital, the knowledge, craftsmanship and understanding developed through traditional dental technology are not lost.

Today, Caroline has a particular interest in digital removable prosthetics, full-arch dentistry and digital workflows, including scanning, CAD design, 3D printing and milling. She enjoys exploring how these technologies can improve consistency, communication and patient outcomes while remaining practical and achievable for everyday dental laboratories.

Caroline is an exocad KOL and Nightshift Ambassador and is passionate about education, sharing knowledge and supporting others within the profession. She regularly teaches and presents on digital workflows and removable prosthetics, sharing real-world experiences — including the successes, challenges and lessons learned — from the perspective of a working technician, CDT and small family laboratory owner.

Through OTS Dental Education, Caroline hopes to encourage other technicians to embrace new technology without feeling that they need to completely reinvent the way they work. Her philosophy is that digital dentistry should enhance the skills of the technician, not replace them.

More than three decades into her career, Caroline remains as enthusiastic about dental technology as ever — still learning, experimenting, sharing knowledge and hopefully helping to inspire the next generation of technicians along the way.

Caroline Kirkpatrick has been a guest on 1 episode.