Dental Assistant II/III

PTHA; Tacoma (WA); On-site; USD 40,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

Puyallup Tribal Health Authority in Tacoma, WA seeks a full-time Dental Assistant to join their dental team. The role involves providing chair side assistance, patient care, and administrative support. The position offers competitive salary and benefits including medical, dental, and vision coverage, paid holidays, and a 401(k) plan.

Benefits

Medical/Dental/Vision benefits

18+ annual paid holidays

401(k) with annual profit sharing

Employee Assistance Program

Excellent work/home life balance

Qualifications

• 3 years of general dental assistant experience required.
• 1 year experience in pediatric or orthodontic assisting required.

Responsibilities

• Provide chair side assistance to dental practitioners.
• Perform preventative maintenance on equipment.
• Assist patients with care and understanding.

Skills

BLS certification

knowledge of dental restorative practices

communication

Education

Dental Assisting National Board (DANB) certification

Job description

Description

Position Close Date: Friday, 5/30/25

PUYALLUP TRIBAL HEALTH AUTHORITY, located in Tacoma, Washington is seeking a full-time Dental Assistant to join its dental team.

“It is the mission of the Puyallup Tribal Health Authority to provide quality healthcare and promote wellness in a culturally appropriate manner.”

We offer an outstanding workplace, competitive market based salary, and benefits packages including:

• Monday – Friday schedule
• Medical/Dental/Vision benefits – monthly premiums paid 100% for employees
• 18+ annual paid holidays
• Generous paid sick and vacation accruals
• 401(k) with annual profit sharing
• Life & AD&D insurance coverage
• PTHA is an approved loan repayment site for various programs
• Employee Assistance Program
• Excellent work/home life balance

GENERAL FUNCTION: Provide chair side assistance to dental practitioners using four-handed practices. Provide direct patient care and administrative support to the dental department as necessary.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Provide accurate and efficient chair side assistance to dental providers and hygienists using established four-handed practices.
• Effectively demonstrates knowledge of dental restorative, endodontic and oral surgery practices and procedures and application techniques for crowns and bridges.
• Accurately performs child and adult prophys, direct patient preventative procedures, OHI, fluorides, sealant application, and rubber dam placement.
• Able to identify, use and arrange, all dental instruments and prepares procedure tray setups in a timely manner, as needed by dental provider.
• Assist in the completion of patient dental records by accurately processing digital radiographs/x-rays and following established protocols for patient exposure.
• Wear personal protective equipment including sterile garments, glasses, mask, and gloves at all times while performing main job functions and follows all PTHA and accreditation guidelines for safety.
• Wipe clean all instruments of debris/material/cement prior to replacing in cassettes and sending to central sterilization for processing, practicing proper infection control and following established sterilization protocol.
• Performs preventative maintenance on and maintains all equipment per manufacturer guidelines and reports equipment failure to supervisor within 24 hours.
• Assists patients through the dental process with care and understanding at all times.
• Provide age appropriate behavior management as needed, for dental patients, ages 0-18 years of age.
• Effectively communicates home care instructions to patients and/or parents of minor children.
• Perform triage duties for emergency care situations.
• Perform orthodontic and/or pediatric assistant work as needed.

Requirements

DENTAL ASSISTANT II

• Current BLS certification and experience with electronic health record systems
• Three (3) years of general dental assistant job experience
• One (1) year experience in pediatric assisting or orthodontic assisting
• Must obtain Dental Assisting National Board (DANB) certification within one (1) year of hire

DENTAL ASSISTANT III

• Current BLS certification and experience with electronic health record systems
• Five (5) years of dental assistant job experience
• Two (2) years of orthodontia, pediatric assisting or expanded functions
• Current Dental Assisting National Board (DANB) certification or ability to obtain within one (1) year of hire