Dental Assistant

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Forest Park (DE); On-site; USD 48,000 - 56,000; Full time

Job summary

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking a Dental Assistant at the Wilmington VA Medical Center in Wilmington, DE. The role involves routine dental assisting and requires direct daily contact with the work-site supervisor.

At full performance, duties are performed independently, both clinically and clerically. Applicants may be referred while meeting education/certification requirements. Certification in radiologic procedures is highly desirable; eligible for various credentialing paths as

Qualifications

• Six months' experience or CODA-accredited 1-year dental assistant program.
• Equivalent combinations of experience and education are qualifying.
• Radiologic credentialing or certification is required or highly desirable.

Responsibilities

• Perform routine dental assisting duties under supervision.
• Receive guidance from more experienced staff or dentist for complex cases.
• At full performance level, perform clinical and clerical tasks independently.

Skills

Identify normal oral anatomy

Dental instruments proficiency

Vital signs interpretation

Patient education skills

Independent work at full performance

Education

CODA-accredited 1-year dental assistant program

Tools

Radiographic equipment

Dental imaging

Job description

The Dental Assistant position is located at the Wilmington VA Medical Center located in Wilmington, DE. Dental Assistants will have the ability to perform routine dental-assisting duties. They receive guidance from more experienced staff members or the treating dentist for more complex patient issues and require direct daily contact with the work-site supervisor. At the full performance level Dental Assistants perform clinical and clerical functions independently of direct supervision. 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

Citizenship: Citizen of the United States. 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 chapter 2, section D, paragraph 5a, this part.

Experience and 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.

1. Provisions for Certification of Radiologic Competence.

• (a) Successful completion of the Dental Radiation Health and Safety Examination administered by the Dental Assisting National Board, Inc. OR,
• (b) 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,
• (c) 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.

Loss of Credential.

An employee in this occupation who fails to obtain licensure/certification/registration within the required time frame, or who fails to maintain the required licensure/certification/registration must be removed from the occupation, which may also result in termination of employment.

Grade Determinations

In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

GS-6 (Full Performance Level):

Experience. At least 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level that demonstrates the core competencies described at that level.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and abilities:

In addition to the experience listed above the candidate must demonstrate the following Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• 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 and digital formats.
• Ability to perform maintenance on dental equipment used for routine and specialty dentistry.
• Ability to enter and retrieve data utilizing e‑dential records.
• Ability to perform dental assistant-appropriate laboratory procedures.

Preferred Experience:

Prior substantive as Dental Assistant.

Reference:

For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS 6.

Physical Requirements:

See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.