This Dental Assistant position is located at the Bay Pines Healthcare System, Bay Pines, FL. The dental assistant is an integral member of the dental treatment team and assists the dentist in many aspects of direct patient care and performs other clinical, dental laboratory and administrative/clerical functions independently of direct supervision.

Duties

The Dental Assistant provides dental assistance with general dentistry specialty procedures including oral surgery, periodontal therapy, endodontic, prosthodontic and implant placement and restoration services to the Veteran population enrolled in the Bay Pines VA Healthcare System. Duties and responsibilities of the Dental Assistant include, but are not limited to: Proficiently provides procedures commonly recognized by the dental profession for safe performance by a dental assistant: fourhanded chair-side dental assisting, dental lab procedures, and performing other such procedures as may be delegated by the dentist consistent with the Florida State Dental Practice Act. Complies with all Patient Safety processes: Infection control, patient identification, time-out, iMed (informed) consent, medication reconciliation, and hand-off communication. Follows standard operating procedures for all reusable medical equipment (RME), instruments, materials, and personal protective equipment (PPE) in use in the dental clinical areas. Keeps patients informed of clinic delays by directly communicating with patients when treatment will not commence within 10-minutes of the patient's scheduled appointment time. Prepares the operatory with all needed equipment, materials and supplies for planned dental procedure(s) prior to seating the patient and cleans operatory after the patient is dismissed for timely turnover. Performs and records patient's blood pressure, pulse, and medical history; recognizes patient signs of physical distress and monitors patients' condition during treatment. Captures and saves diagnostic quality digital radiographs of the mouth, gums, jaws, and/or teeth --- both intraoral and extraoral --- within the desired time frame. Anticipates the dentist's need at each stage of the treatment procedure, including specialty procedures (in oral surgery, periodontal therapy, endodontics, prosthodontics, and implant placement and retention), and makes instrumentation and/or materials readily available, whether in the dental clinic, operating room, or the patient's bedside. Employs proper techniques and dexterity in the practice of four-handed dentistry. Keeps the operative field clear of debris and improves access by effectively and comfortably retracting the tongue and/or oral tissues. Prepares and mixes dental materials per manufacturer's instructions. Applies cavity bases and liners, desensitizing agents, fluoride (foam, gel or varnish), tooth conditioners/bonding agents and topical anesthesia prescribed by dentist to specified areas of the oral cavity. Places and removes: matrix bands, mylar strips, retraction cord, rubber dams, and temporary restorations. Fabricates temporary acrylic, stainless steel and polycarbonate crowns. Removes crown/bridge temporaries and cleans the prepared tooth of debris. Removes sutures, periodontal dressings and socket (post-extraction) dressings. Irrigates extraction sites. Provides coronal polishing of natural teeth (including removing cement and debris from teeth and restorations). Provides accurate and understandable procedure-specific patient education including preventive dental care practices, care of prosthetic appliances, demonstration of oral health care regimens and post-operative/restorative instructions. Relays patient concerns to the treating dentist. Makes impressions for diagnostic casts and preliminary impressions used to fabricate custom trays. Maintains instrument, operatory, radiography and dental laboratory infection control and accomplishes all procedures in compliance with Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) standards for clinical and laboratory dental operations. Performs routine maintenance of equipment components such as suction traps and water lines. Performs unit water quality testing as scheduled. Has a working knowledge of laboratory procedures, materials and methods, including sfety and proper handling of laboratory equipment. Performs dental laboratory duties: cleans and polishes dentures and other prosthetic appliances; pours and! trims dental stone models; constructs custom impression trays; fabricates bite rims and vacuum-formed stints, soft mouth guards and fluoride trays. Work Schedule: Full-time, Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. Compressed/Flexible:Not Available Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 21782F

Requirements

Qualifications

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. English Language Proficiency. Dental assistants must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA policy. Basic Experience and/or Education. 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), OR 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 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). ***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. ***Certification in basic life support methods is highly desirable. Grandfathering Provision. All persons employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including certification (for positions above the full performance level) that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements required in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply: (1) Such employees may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level, or changed to lower grade within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the journey level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions. Such employees MUST meet the certification requirement before they can be promoted to those higher grade levels. (2) Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard. (3) Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration that meet all the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation. (4) If an employee who was retained [ ] under this provision leaves [the] occupation, the employee loses protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation. Physical Requirements. The physical demands of the work include moderate lifting (15-44 lbs), heavy carrying (45 lbs and over), ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously, near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4, good distant vision in one eye, ability to hear whisper voice. There is moderate walking (3-4 hrs.) and some extended periods of standing (3-4 hrs.). For additional information, please see VA Directive and Handbook 5019. GRADE REQUIREMENTS Dental Assistant GS-3 Experience or Education. None beyond the basic requirements. Dental Assistant GS-4 Experience or Education. In addition to the basic requirements, applicants must demonstrate one of the following: (1) 1 year of experience at the next lower (GS-3) level, OR, (2) 2 years of education above high school that included completion of a dental assistant program accredited by the American Dental Association's Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA). In addition, to meeting paragraph (1) or (2) above, the candidate must demonstrate the following Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): 1. Basic knowledge of infection control and safe instrument handling. 2. Basic knowledge of dental procedures and medical emergencies. 3. Ability to perform basic radiographic image capture and processing/retrieval. 4. Basic knowledge of maintenance, care and storage of dental equipment. 5. Basic knowledge of patient privacy requirements. Dental Assistant GS-5 Experience or Education. In addition to the requirements listed at GS-4 above, applicants must demonstrate one of the following: (1) At least 1 year of experience equivalent to at the next lower grade (GS-4) level that demonstrates the core competencies described at that level. OR, (2) Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study that included or was supplemented by completion of a dental assistant program by CODA. In addition to meeting paragraph (1) or (2) above, the applicant must demonstrate the following KSA's: 1. Knowledge of anatomy and ability to evaluate diagnostic quality. 2. Broad knowledge of common medical emergencies and vital signs measurement. 3. Basic knowledge of instruments, materials and standardized dental procedures. 4. Ability to learn and utilize software programs used within VHA. 5. Basic communication skills to provide patient instructions according to established protocol. Dental Assistant GS-6 (Full Performance Level) Experience. At least 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-5) that demonstrates the core competencies described at that level. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following technical KSAs: 1. Ability to identify normal oral anatomy. 2. Advanced knowledge of instruments, materials, and standardized dental procedures used in all phases of restorative, surgical, endodontic and periodontal care and procedures. 3. Ability to monitor and perform basic interpretation of vital signs. 4. Ability to independently provide procedure-specific patient education and appropriate referral of patient concerns to treating dentist. 5. Ability to capture standard and special dental images of good diagnostic quality in traditional or digital formats. 6. Ability to perform maintenance on dental equipment used for routine and specialty dentistry. 7. Ability to enter and retrieve data utilizing electronic dental records. 8. Ability to perform dental assistant-appropriate laboratory procedures. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-6. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-3 to GS-6

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

Contacts

• Address CW Bill Young Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center 10000 Bay Pines Boulevard Bay Pines, FL 33744 US
• Name: David Califano
• Phone: (561) 884-1870
• Email: [email protected]