Edgar Munoz: Would-Be Dentist Falls in Love With Making Teeth

In 2000, Edgar Munoz was planning to be a dentist, but fate had different plans. While on the waiting list for dental school, he took a job at a large production lab to make extra money. Since he was certified as a dental assistant he already understood anatomy, and he was able to jump right into ceramics when he finished the lab's PTC training. There, he fell in love with making teeth, but there was one problem: "I was reprimanded for taking too long on restorations and being too artistic, but that was the part I enjoyed most," he says. "I wanted to be able to take time to create something beautiful."

One lab owner even told him he would never make it in the industry spending so much time on detailed restorations but, instead of being discouraged, the comment lit a fire in Munoz. He took a position at a smaller, boutique laboratory and simultaneously enrolled in the Dental Technology Program at Gwinnett Technical Institute. Working in the lab by day and going to class...