Dental Assistant

Full Job Description

The dental assistant is established to provide chairside, operating room, satellite clinic and ward examination/treatment assistance to dentists in the administration of oral examination, charting and treatment procedures; accomplish dental radiography tasks and perform other miscellaneous pre/post-operative assisting tasks in the delivery of oral health care services.

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship. Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Experience.

Six months experience that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work, or provides familiarity with the work. OR, Education.

Successful completion of a 1-year dental assistant program accredited by the American Dental Association's Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA). Experience/Education Combination.

Equivalent combinations of experience and education are qualifying. Certification.

Public Law 97-35 requires that persons who administer radiologic procedures meet the credentialing standards in 42 CFR Part 75.

Essentially, they must 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 be certified as radiographers in their field.

Provisions for Certification of Radiologic Competence (a) Successful completion of the Dental Radiation Health and Safety Examination administered by the Dental Assisting National Board, Inc.; OR, (b) Successful completion of the Principles and Practice of Dental Radiology and Radiographic Safety courses and examinations developed by the Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Dentistry.

OR, (c) Successful completion of a radiation health and safety program or examination approved by a state board of dentistry or the Department of Defense (DoD).Certification in basic life support methods is highly desirable.

Certification by the Dental Assisting National Board (DANB). The American Dental Association (ADA) recognizes DANB as the national certification for Dental Assistants.

DANB certification is not required, but highly desirable for the appointment of Dental Assistants up to and including the full performance level and is required for all positions above the full performance level.

Grade Determinations: GS-6, Dental Assistant Experience. At least 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level that demonstrates the core competencies described at that level.

In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following technical KSAs: Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Ability to identify normal oral anatomy.

Advanced knowledge of instruments, materials, and standardized dental procedures used in all phases of restorative, surgical, endodontic and periodontal care and procedures.

Ability to monitor and perform basic interpretation of vital signs.

Ability to independently provide procedure-specific patient education and appropriate referral of patient concerns to treating dentist.

Ability to capture standard and special dental images of good diagnostic quality in traditional or digital formats.

Ability to perform maintenance on dental equipment used for routine and specialty dentistry. Ability to enter and retrieve data utilizing electronic dental records.8.

Ability to perform dental assistant-appropriate laboratory procedures.

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).

Preferred Experience: 5 years dental experience, with 2 years with adults. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-06.

Physical Requirements: Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation, see Duties section for essential job duties of the position.

May require standing, lifting, carrying, sitting, stooping, bending, puling, and pushing.

May be required to wear personal protective equipment and undergo annual TB screening or testing as conditions of employment.

Work Environment: Work is performed in an office/clinic setting with minimal risks that requires normal safety precautions; the area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated.

However, the work environment requires someone with the ability to handle several tasks at once in sometimes stressful situations. Major Duties:

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Duties include but not limited to: Receives and prepares patients for dental treatment, e.g., escorts, seats, drapes, etc.

Assists at chairside, anticipates the dentist's needs at each stage of treatment, performs the following passes instruments and materials to and retrieves them from the dentist, illuminates treatment field, retracts tissue and keeps field free of debris using irrigation and oral evacuation devices.

Observes patient for signs of adverse reaction to treatment. Provide assistance during various examination or treatment procedures.

Prepares dental materials; removes sutures and/or removes/changes surgical dressings under supervision of the dentist. Takes oral impressions for diagnostic purposes.

Takes and records patient vital signs, e.g., temperature, blood pressure, pulse etc. Monitors patients' general conditions, e.g.

signs of fainting, shock, discomfort, distress, etc.; and cleans areas following patient care.

Delivers oral hygiene instructions and relays post-treatment instructions to enhance speedy recoveries, minimize complications, and/or ease prosthetic device adaptations.

Delivers biopsy specimens to medical laboratory. Assists the dentist, ENT physician and oral surgeon in the operating room while patients are under general anesthesia or LV.

sedation in each treatment procedure e.g. extraction, reduction of fractures, alveoloplasty, and all other dental surgical procedures.

Assists all consultants, makes appointments, coordinates patient and staff dentist availability for proper procedures.

Performs dental laboratory support duties including pouring/trimming models from impressions in fabrication prosthetic appliances; constructs custom trays for crown/bridge impressions and trays for final complete denture impressions; boxes/pours impressions.

Performs equipment pre/post operative maintenance, e.g., lubricates, dusts, cleans, polishes, changes solutions, etc. Troubleshoots operational deficiencies and reports equipment malfunctions.

Maintains operatory and other assigned areas in clean and orderly manner. Uses aseptic techniques to prepare dental patient care areas and operating room.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8;00am-4:30pm (subject to change based on facility needs) Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases.

When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).

Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience.

Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.

Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.

Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 00317F Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Available