Dental Laboratory Technician

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Portland (OR); On-site; USD 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

The Dental Laboratory Technician at the VA Portland Health Care System (Portland, OR) independently fabricates a full range of complex fixed and removable dental prostheses to support patient care by staff dentists.

This GS-8 position requires knowledge of impression materials, lathes, articulators, and expertise in articulating full-arch models; English proficiency and documented specialized experience or graduate education per OPM standards are required.

Qualifications

• One year of specialized experience at or equivalent to GS-7 level in Federal service.
• Experience with dental laboratory materials and related equipment.

Responsibilities

• Fabricate full range of complex fixed and removable dental prostheses.
• Support patient care provided by staff dentists through clinical judgment and digital workflows.

Skills

Dental materials

Dental equipment

Articulators

Occlusion

Education

Graduate education (qualifications)

Tools

Dental lathes

Casting furnaces

Job description

This position is in the Dental Service of the VA Portland Health Care System located in Portland, OR. The primary purpose of the Dental Laboratory Technician is to independently fabricate a full range of complex, fixed and removable dental prostheses, including those requiring advanced technical skill, digital workflows, and clinical judgment - in direct support of patient care provided by staff dentists.

TO QUALIFY FOR THIS POSITION AT THE GS-8 GRADE LEVEL, YOU MUST MEET THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA:

ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY:

In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), No person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. You must be proficient in basic written and spoken English in order to meet the requirements of this position.

~AND~

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE:

You must possess one year of specialized experience that equipped you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of this position, and that is typically in or related to the position. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-7 grade level in Federal service.

Qualifying specialized experience includes:

• 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;
• Articulation and occlusion of cases to include full arch models with multi-unit castings to be articulated in the full range of mandibular excursions.

NOTE:

Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week.

~OR~

SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION FOR EXPERIENCE:

You must possess one and a half years (1 1/2) of graduate level education with course work or an internship that is directly related to the work of this position. One year of full-time graduate education is the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent one year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the one year of full-time study requirement. This education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university.

NOTE:

Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation.

~OR~

COMBINATION OF EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION:

You must possess equivalent combinations of successfully completed graduate level education (beyond the first year) and specialized experience, as described above, to meet total experience requirements. The education portion must include courses directly related to the work of this position.

NOTE:

Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation.

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/.