Dental Assistant

Full Job Description

About the Position: This position is with the Defense Health Agency (DHA), located at Fort Lee, VA. Primary location is one of two Dental Treatment Facilities, (DTF) on Fort Lee.

Occasionally required to work at non-primary DTF to support operations and patient treatment. Duty hours: Monday-Friday, 7:30 am to 4:30 pm.

Applicant is expected to achieve delivery of quality and safe dental healthcare to the Service members of Fort Lee within a team environment.

This is a Direct Hire Solicitation Who May Apply: US Citizens In order to qualify, you must meet the education/experience requirements described below.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student; social).

You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application.

Additional information about transcripts is in this document.

Basic Requirement for Dental Assistant: Radiology Certification: Public Law 97-35 requires that persons who administer radiologic procedures meet the credentialing standards in 42 CFR Part 75.

Essentially, they must (1) have successfully completed an educational program that meets or exceeds the standards described in that regulation, and is accredited by an organization recognized by the Department of Education, and (2) be certified as radiographers in their field.

The following meet these requirements: (1) Persons employed by the Federal Government as radiologic personnel prior to the effective date of the regulation (January 13, 1986) who show evidence of current or fully satisfactory performance or certification of such from a licensed practitioner such as a doctor of medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, podiatry, or chiropractic who prescribes radiologic procedures to others.

2) Persons first employed by the Federal Government as radiologic personnel after the effective date of the regulation who (a) received training from institutions in a State or foreign jurisdiction that did not accredit training in that particular field at the time of graduation, or (b) practiced in a State or foreign jurisdiction that did not license that particular field or did not allow special eligibility to take a licensure examination for those who did not graduate from an accredited educational program, provided such persons show evidence of training, experience, and competence, as determined by OPM or the employing agency.

In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below: Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes: providing chair side assistance supporting a dental specialist by performing intra-oral procedures, operating dental x-ray equipment, and charting.

This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-04).

OR Education: Successful completion of a full four-year course of study in a dental assistant or dental hygiene program that included at least 24 semester hours of courses in radiation physics; radiation biology; radiation health, safety, and protection; X-ray films and radiographic film quality, radiographic techniques; darkroom and processing techniques; and film mounting.

OR Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%.

To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of education beyond two years (total semester hours minus 60) by 60.

Add the two percentages. Major Duties:

• Perform inter-oral procedures as directed by dentist.
• Take preliminary impressions for study models, removes sutures, places and removes rubber dams, perio-packs, matrix bands, and wedges.
• Operate dental X-ray equipment.
• Receive and schedule patients for treatment.
• Prepare and arrange all instruments and materials needed for each treatment.
• Sterilize instruments, materials, equipment, and prepare surgical trays.
• Take and record blood pressure and pulse of oral surgery patients before and after treatment.
• Aid in the training of trainee dental assistants and students.
• Support dental providers by assisting during a wide range of clinical procedures, including restorative, surgical, orthodontic, periodontal, and prosthodontic treatments.
• Prepare patients and maintain chairside efficiency.
• Perform clinical support functions such as obtaining medical histories, charting examinations, exposing and processing dental radiographs.