The Dental Assistant serves as a supporting member of the dental care team performing a full range of duties with some independence in assigned specialties, with indirect supervision from the lead dental assistant or treating dentist. They will comply with guidelines and policies set forth by the Dental Service, the VA Loma Linda Healthcare System, VHA policy, and VA statutes and policy.

Duties

The Dental Assistant assist the dentist in many aspects of direct patient care and performs other clinical and clerical functions independently of direct supervision. The major duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to: Shows courtesy, respect, and a positive attitude for patients, coworkers and the public. Provides assistance to customers with questions or concerns, provides service recovery. Sets up operatory and/or surgery suite for planned dental procedure and cleans dental unit for timely turnover. Obtain and prepare equipment, hand pieces, instruments, and accessories according to the procedure being performed. Prepares dental medicaments and impression materials per manufacturer's instructions. Accomplishes all intra-operative procedures within standard infection control protocols. Assists in routine general dental procedures. Assists in specialized dental procedures, such as oral surge1y, endodontics, and periodontics. Ensures Images are characterized by diagnostic quality, accurately oriented and exposed. Ensures Dental imaging safety techniques are utilized, and retakes are minimized. Ensures Imaging requests are accomplished within the desired time frame. Demonstrates proper infection control procedures in setting up and cleaning up operatories. Ensures Instruments are properly prepared for sterilization by SPD standards. Ensures Instruments are prepared in a manner that does not delay clinical care. Demonstrates proper infection control procedures in exposing images. Assists patients in scheduling appointments. Assists in filling gaps in the doctor's schedule due to late cancellations and failed appointments. Assists dentist in chatting findings and treatment plans in patient records. Maintains patient confidentiality per HIPAA with written and verbal information. Follows computer security regulations. Modifies care as necessitated by patient's age and abilities (patient transfer and position). Provides accurate and understandable instructions to patients. Monitors patient condition during treatment, being alert for signs of physical distress. Complies with Employee Education requirements. Completes mandatory annual safety training sessions. Pours impressions and prepares study models. Makes final denture impression trays and prepares bite rims. Performs other dental laboratory functions as time and skill levels allow. Performs Suture Removal. Performs Impressions for diagnostic casts and preliminary impressions for prosthetic fabrication. Provides post-operative and appropriate patient education. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:00am-3:30pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: FS/000000 Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: Citizenship. Citizen of the United States. Experience and Education. Applicant must have six months experience that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work, or provides familiarity with the work. OR Have a successfully completed a 1-year dental assistant program accredited by the American Dental Association's Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA). OR Have 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. Applicants must have one of the following: Successful completion of the Dental Radiation Health and Safety Examination administered by the Dental Assisting National Board, Inc. OR 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 Successful completion of a radiation health and safety program or examination approved by a state board of dentistry or the Department of Defense (DoD). GS-6 Experience: Applicants must have at least 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level that demonstrates the core competencies described at that level. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: 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. Ability to perform dental assistant-appropriate laboratory procedures. Assignment. This is the full performance level for a Dental Assistant. Employee serves at the full performance level with the ability to perform full range of duties with some independence in assigned specialties, with indirect supervision from the lead dental assistant, dental assistant supervisor or treating dentist. Assignments at this level include, but are not limited to: using the concepts of four-handed dentistry; assists with specialty procedures including oral surgery, periodontal therapy, endodontic, prosthodontic and implant placement and restoration; anticipates surgeons/specialists needs at each stage of treatment; takes preliminary impressions; selects and manipulates a variety of gypsums and waxes; pours, trims and evaluates the quality of diagnostic casts; fabricates custom trays. References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G36 - Dental Assistant Qualification Standard. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-06. Physical Requirements: Long periods of standing, walking, sitting, and bending are required. Pushing dental equipment and carts are necessary to deliver items to the operatory or procedure site

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address Jerry L Pettis Memorial Veterans Hospital 11201 Benton Street Loma Linda, CA 92357 US
• Name: Erin Youngman
• Phone: (480) 492-0605
• Email: [email protected]