The Dental Laboratory Technician position is located in the Dental Laboratory Section of the Martinsburg VAMC Dental Service. The Dental Service provides comprehensive dental services to Veterans in the Martinsburg catchment area and those referred from other VA facilities. The technician supports, repairs, and fabricates dental prostheses.

Duties

Duties may include but are not limited to: Checks impressions for bubbles or broken segments. Joins broken impressions with sticky wax. Beads, boxes, pours preliminary and final impressions, checks, and trims casts to acceptable standards. Examines cast for completeness and accuracy. Carefully trims excess stone to avoid damaging the reproduction of tissue or teeth. Positions upper and lower casts on the articulator in their natural relationship to each other or via facebow or bite registration provided by the dentist. Cuts locks in master cast bases to insure accurate repositioning of casts on the articulator. Fabricates duplicate casts or refractory casts for use in the study, design, or construction of the denture. Reproduces rugae (the ridges and grooves in the roof of the mouth). Spreads glue on interior of refractory cast. Places refractory cast in the impression to transfer plastic rugae pattern to the cast and seals edges in wax. Makes duplicates of master casts for use in fabricating dental appliances. Uses any one of several duplicating impression materials, and any one of several types of plaster, stone, or investment to pour the cast. Constructs base plates, bite rims, and individualized impression trays. Waxes trial full dentures so that the dentist may check final tooth arrangement, appearance, speech, and function, in the patient's mouth. Shapes wax to the contours desired in the final denture and to the thickness required to maintain facial contours, ensure comfort, and provide proper fit. Waxes outlines of metal framework for partial dentures or other dental prostheses. Follows VA infection control and blood borne pathogen requirements. Polishing prosthesis following adjustment. Fabricates night guards. Fabricating provisional prostheses. Pouring and preparing pindex models for final crown and bridge impressions. Fabricating fluoride trays. Safely and timely packing and receiving of cases sent/received from Central Dental Laboratory or non-VA dental laboratories. Completes inventory and re-ordering of all dental laboratory materials. Other duties as assigned. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: Full time. Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Dental Laboratory Technician/PD240840 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized. Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized. Financial Disclosure Report: Not required.

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/03/2024. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. Individual Occupational Requirements: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Use of dental laboratory material such as impression materials, plasters, stones, hydrocolloids, waxes, metals, acrylics, porcelain, and similar materials. Use of laboratory equipment such as hand tools, dental lathes, engines, and hand pieces, furnaces, casting machines, presses, flasks, and related equipment. Use of precision instruments such as articulators, surveyors, and microanalyzers. Construction of dental prosthetic appliances. OR, Combination Education and Training: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond. Successful completion of a full 4-year apprenticeship program consisting of at least 2000 hours a year. The successful completion of training courses in dental laboratory work in the Armed Forces or other Federal agencies will be allowed appropriate credit for specialized experience on a month-for-month basis up through GS-05. Licensed professional dentists will be considered qualified for any grade level if they have, in the aggregate, the required experience in dental laboratory procedures. Grade Determination: GS-06 Qualification Requirement: Specialized Experience: 1 year equivalent to at least next lower grade level. (GS-05) OR, Education: Six months or Eight credits toward graduate degree only in those instances where it is directly related to the work of the position. GS-07 Qualification Requirement: Specialized Experience: 1 year equivalent to at least next lower grade level. (GS-06) OR, Education: One full year of graduate education meets the requirements for GS-07 only in those instances where it is directly related to the work of the position. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Attention to DetailCustomer ServiceOrganizational Stewardship 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; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The work involves periods of sitting and standing. It involves the use of various dental lab machines. Extensive and detailed use of the hands is required. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address Martinsburg VA Medical Center 510 Butler Avenue Martinsburg, WV 25405 US
• Name: Joseph Hannan
• Phone: 304-268-9384
• Email: [email protected]