DENTAL ASSISTANT

Full Job Description

Through academic affiliations with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the University of Southern California (USC), and the Charles R.

Drew University of Medicine and Sciences (CDU), DHS hospitals are training sites for physicians completing their Graduate Medical Education in nearly every medical specialty and subspecialty.

In addition, to its direct clinical services, DHS also runs the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Agency and the County's 911 emergency response system, as well as Housing for Health and the Office of Diversion and Re-entry, each with a critical role in connecting vulnerable populations, including those released from correctional and institutional settings, to supportive housing.

MISSIONTo advance the health of our patients and our communities by providing extraordinary care.

DEFINITION:
Assists a dentist by serving as chair assistant and office clerk.

Requirements

Reviews patient record if available and, using standard practices and procedural instructions as a guide, determines what instruments and materials will probably be needed and lays them out.

Passes equipment to the dentist upon request.

Prepares patient for dentist by seating patient, adjusting chair for convenient angle, and draping patient and in the case of children, calms and reassures the patient so work can proceed expeditiously.

Schedules all patients, determining time intervals according to type of work to be done and the probability of the dentist being able to treat more than one patient at a time.

Operates a conventional dental radiographic machine to make intra-oral, periapical, bite wing and occlusal images, a cephalometric radiographic machine to make various extra-oral images of the head such as lateral, anterior-posterior, and poster-anterior images, and a panographic radiographic machine to make extra-oral panographic images of the teeth and jaws, as directed by dentist.

Places and positions suction tubes in patient's mouth using standard practice and following dentist's instructions.

Mixes filling compounds such as composite and amalgam using standard practice or dentist preference as a guide to consistency.

Maintains patient records by indicating type of work done.

Takes pre-impressions for dentures of all types as directed for use by technician to duplicate original configuration using standard practice and dentist's instructions as a guide.

Participates in orientation meetings for families conducted by dentist which include such subjects as available dental services, proper nutrition, proper personal dental care including plaque control instruction.

Records stage of work and instruments used when dentist is interrupted in an endodontic process.

Qualifications

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:
OPTION I - Completion of a Dental Assistant vocational curriculum in an approved school*.

OPTION II - One (1) year's experience as a dental assistant.

LICENSE:
A Radiation Safety License issued by the Dental Board of California -OR- A Certificate of compliance from an approved Board course in Radiation Safety.

All required licenses and certifications must be active and unrestricted or your application will not be acceptedPHYSICAL CLASS II - Light: Light physical effort which may include occasional light lifting to a 10 pound limit, and some bending, stooping or squatting.

Considerable walking may be involved.DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS:Additional credit will be given to applicants who possess the following desirable qualification in excess of the minimum requirements.

Experience as a Dental Assistant assisting the Dentist and Dental Residents in a various setting such as Emergency Room setting, Operating Room setting, Inpatient setting (bedside).Current certification issued by the American Heart Association's Basic Life Support (BLS) for Healthcare Providers (CPR & AED) ProgramSPECIALTY REQUIREMENTS INFORMATION:*A Dental Assistant vocational curriculum in an approved school is defined as a program acceptable by the American Dental Association's (ADA) Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA).In order to receive credit for any certificate you must include a legible copy of the official certificate, with your application or within 15 calendar days of filing.

Additional Information EXAMINATION CONTENT:This exam will consist of an evaluation of education, experience and desirable qualification based upon application information weighted 100%.Notification Letters and other correspondences will be sent electronically to the email address provided on the application.

It is important that applicants provide a valid email address.

Please add mrivas2@dhs.lacounty.gov and info@governmentjobs.com to your email address book and to the list of approved senders to prevent email notifications from being filtered as SPAM/JUNK mail.ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION:Applications will be processed on an "as received" and those receiving a passing score will be promulgated to the eligible register accordingly.NO PERSON MAY COMPETE IN THIS EXAMINATION MORE THAN ONCE EVERY TWELVE (12) MONTHS.The names of candidates receiving a passing score in the examination will be added to the eligible register in the order of their score group for a period of twelve (12) months following the date of promulgation.SPECIAL INFORMATION:Appointees may be required to work any shift including evenings, nights, weekends and holidays.FAIR CHANCE INITIATIVE:The County of Los Angeles is a Fair Chance employer.

Except for a very limited number of positions, you will not be asked to provide information about a conviction history unless you receive a contingent offer of employment.

The County will make an individual assessment of whether your conviction history has a direct or adverse relationship with the specific duties of the job, and consider potential mitigating factors, including, but not limited to, evidence and extent of rehabilitation, recency of the offense(s), and age at the time of the offense(s).

If asked to provide information about a conviction history, any convictions or court records which are exempted by a valid court order do not have to be disclosed.VACANCY INFORMATION:The resulting Eligible Register will be used to fill vacancies throughout the Department of Health Services as they occur.APPLICATION AND FILING INFORMATION:APPLICATIONS MUST BE FILED ONLINE ONLY.

APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED BY U.S. MAIL, FAX OR IN PERSON WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.Apply online by clicking on the green "Apply" button at the top right of this posting.

You can also track the status of your application using this website.All information is subject to verification.

We may reject your application at any time during the examination and hiring process, including after appointment has been made.

Falsification of any information may result in disqualification or rescission of appointment.Utilizing VERBIAGE from the Class Specification and Selection Requirements serving as your description of duties WILL NOT be sufficient to demonstrate that you met the requirements.

Doing so may result in an INCOMPLETE APPLICATION and you may be DISQUALIFIED.This examination will remain open until the needs of the service are met.

Application filing may be suspended at any time with or without advance notice. Fill out your application completely.

The acceptance of your application depends on whether you have clearly shown that you meet the MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.

Provide any relevant education, training, and experience in the spaces provided so we can evaluate your qualifications for the job.

For each job held, give the name and address of your employer, your job title, beginning and ending dates, number of hours worked per week, and description of work performed.

If your application is incomplete, it will be rejected.NOTE: If you are unable to attach the required documents, you must e-mail the documents to the exam analyst at mrivas2@dhs.lacounty.gov within fifteen (15) calendar days of filing online or your application will be rejected.

Please include the exam number and the exam title. SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER:Please include your Social Security Number for record control purposes.

Federal law requires that all employed persons have a Social Security Number.COMPUTER AND INTERNET ACCESS AT PUBLIC LIBRARIES:For candidates who may not have regular access to a computer or the internet, applications can be completed on computers at public libraries throughout Los Angeles County.NO SHARING OF USER ID AND PASSWORD:All applicants must file their application online using their own user ID and password.

Using a family member's or friend's user ID and password may erase a candidate's original application record.DEPARTMENT CONTACT:Michelle Rivas , Exam AnalystHR ESC Telephone: (213) 288-7000mrivas2@dhs.lacounty.gov (Best way to contact)ADA COORDINATOR PHONE:(323) 914-7111CALIFORNIA RELAY SERVICES PHONE:(800) 735-2922