Dental Assistant

Summary

This position is an intermittent Dental Assistant at the Ernest Childers VA Outpatient Clinic, Tulsa, OK. The role follows established dental protocols and seeks dentist guidance when needed. The assistant reports issues to the supervisor with recommended actions. Work is reviewed for compliance with Dental Service policy and requirements.

Duties

Eastern Oklahoma - Please watch to learn more - Eastern Oklahoma VA Health Care System Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Major Duties and Responsibilities: Receives and prepares patients for dental treatment, including seating, chair positioning, and placing napkin. Ensures adherence to infection control protocols and safe instrument handling procedures. Performs disinfection and sterilization of instruments and work area. Assists chairside with a full range of dental procedures, including restorative, surgical, endodontic, periodontal, prosthodontic, and oral surgery, using four-handed dentistry concepts. Responds to medical emergencies, reports to dentists, and records vital signs as needed. Prepares procedural trays and other armamentaria set-ups for dental treatments. Recognizes dental instruments, materials, and standardized dental procedures; anticipates provider's needs during treatments. Captures, processes, mounts, labels, and retrieves dental radiographic images; evaluates radiographs for diagnostic quality; saves images to electronic medical records. Recognizes oral anatomy to ensure quality radiographs, and captures both standard and specialty dental images. Provides accurate entry and retrieval of patient records via electronic dental record systems. Provides patient instructions according to established protocols; independently offers procedure-specific patient education and refers patient concerns as appropriate. Mixes dental materials and assists with laboratory procedures, such as taking impressions, pouring, trimming and evaluating diagnostic casts, and fabricating custom trays. Maintains, cares for, and performs routine and specialty maintenance on dental equipment as per manufacturer and service standards; ensures proper storage of equipment and materials. Complies at all times with patient privacy and confidentiality requirements. Directs patients to appropriate staff for scheduling and follow-up visits. Responsible for all other assigned administrative and operational duties as required. Work Schedule: Intermittent; Monday - Thursday, based on the needs of the service. Appointment Type: Temporary - Not-to-Exceed 1 year Functional Statement #: 52816-A, 52817-A, 52818-A, 52819-A

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. Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement. Basic Requirements: Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Experience and Education (1) Experience. Six months experience that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work, or provides familiarity with the work. OR, (2) Education. Successful completion of a 1-year dental assistant program accredited by the American Dental Association's Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA). 3) Experience/Education Combination. Equivalent combinations of experience and education are qualifying. c. 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. (1) 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). (2) Non-certified applicants who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements for certification of radiologic competence may be given a temporary appointment as a graduate dental assistant under the authority of 38 U.S.C. § 7405 (a) (1) (D). Failure to obtain certification during that period is justification for termination of the temporary appointment. This will result in removal from the GS-681 series and may result in termination of employment. (3) Certification in basic life support methods is highly desirable. (4) 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. English Language Proficiency. Dental assistants must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with chapter 2, section D, paragraph 5a, this part. 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). Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. GS-3 Dental Assistant (a) Experience or Education. None beyond the basic requirements. GS-4 Dental Assistant (a) Experience or Education. In addition to the basic requirements, 1 year of experience at the next lower level, OR 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, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: (b) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Basic knowledge of infection control and safe instrument handling. Basic knowledge of dental procedures and medical emergencies. Ability to perform basic radiographic image capture and processing/retrieval. Basic knowledge of maintenance, care and storage of dental equipment. Basic knowledge of patient privacy requirements. GS-5 Dental Assistant (a) Experience or Education.(1) In addition to the requirements listed at GS-4 above, applicants must demonstrate] at least 1 year of experience equivalent to at the next lower grade 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.(3) In addition to meeting paragraph (1) or (2) above, the applicant must demonstrate the following KSA's: (b) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Knowledge of anatomy and ability to evaluate diagnostic quality. Broad knowledge of common medical emergencies and vital signs measurement. Basic knowledge of instruments, materials and standardized dental procedures. Ability to learn and utilize software programs used within VHA. Basic communication skills to provide patient instructions according to established protocol GS-6 Staff Dental Assistant (Full Performance Level) (a) 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: (