Dental Laboratory Technician

Veterans Health Administration; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 63,000 - 91,000; Full time

Job summary

Veterans Health Administration, Washington DC VA Medical Center, seeks a Dental Laboratory Technician to fabricate complex dental prostheses and oversee lab operations. The role involves coordination with dentists and surgeons to design intraoral appliances, interpreting lab prescriptions and prioritizing urgent cases.

The position emphasizes maintaining lab equipment, training staff, and ensuring compliance with infection control while collaborating with specialists across departments.

Qualifications

• One full year of graduate education for GS-8.
• Two full years of graduate education or a master's degree for GS-9.
• Education or degrees recognized by US DoE; foreign education requires certificate of foreign equivalency.

Responsibilities

• Produce complex dental prostheses and oversee fabrication.
• Collaborate with Restorative Dentists, Prosthodontists, and Oral Surgeons to design and fabricate appliances.
• Review prescriptions, determine work flow and urgency, and prioritize cases.
• Maintain the dental laboratory at the hospital and CBOCs; order supplies and ensure infection control.

Skills

Dental laboratory skills

Attention to detail

Education

Graduate education

Job description

• Department: Department of Veterans Affairs
• Location: Washington, District of Columbia

This position is in the Dental Clinic at the Washington DC VA Medical Center (DC VAMC). The Dental clinic provides General Dentistry as well as specialty care in Prosthodontics, Periodontics, Endodontics and Oral Surgery for eligible outpatient, inpatient, community living center (CLC) and homeless Veterans.

Key Responsibilities

Duties include but not limited to: Production 40% Independently accomplish all aspects of fabrication for a wide range of complex dental prostheses supporting dental laboratory operations. For assignments at this level, dental laboratory technicians must have developed and demonstrated a degree of expertness in all aspects of the dental laboratory work and will be relied upon to carry out all aspects of their fabrication independently or with minimum supervision.

The technician receives lab cases and prescriptions from dental staff and residents, confers with the treating doctor regarding design and fabrication, labels the cases, and determines the urgency of the work so that cases with the highest urgency are completed first, while creating a work plan to get the remaining cases done in a timely manner.

The dental laboratory technician directly collaborates with Restorative Dentists, Prosthodontists, or Oral Surgeons to design and fabricate complex dental or intra-oral maxillofacial appliances.

This involves (1) receiving and interpreting dental laboratory prescriptions, (2) working with these specialists in developing the design of the appliance, (3) confers with the treating specialist to determine a work flow that will ensure prioritization of cases with highest urgency, (4) personally fabricating, or overseeing the fabrication of the appliance, and (5) resolving problems in its fabrication.

The technician is involved in complex removable and fixed oral-maxillofacial appliance including fixed, semi-fixed, or removable implant cases, partial and complete dentures when the severe nature of the dental abnormalities to be overcome require working to unusually close tolerances, resolving particularly difficult problems of esthetics, retention, balance, reducing tension on natural teeth and tissue, and similar problems.

The technician must be skilled in prosthesis design, which may involve novel design elements to accommodate the patient's functional needs and unique anatomy.

Functions include pouring primary and final impressions; fabricating custom trays; fabricating bite rims; mounting casts on articulators; setting teeth for trial dentures/partials; investing, packing, processing and finishing dentures/partials; polishing prosthesis following adjustment; fabricating night guards; fabricating provisional prostheses; repairing broken prostheses; adding teeth to prostheses; pouring and pinning final crown and bridge impressions; sectioning dies; fabricating fluoride trays; fabricating stints; fabricating transitional partials, fabricating wrought wire clasps, and fabricating fixed prostheses including metal and ceramic restorations.

Fabricates complex crowns and fixed partial dentures, removable partial denture frameworks, acrylic partial and complete dentures. Provide consultation to Oral Surgeons, Prosthodontists, and other dental, and laboratory specialists in the design and fabrication of difficult intraoral maxillofacial appliances and restorations.

This involves (1) working with dental specialists in developing the design of the appliance, (2) personally fabricating the appliance, and/or (3) resolving problems in its fabrication. Laboratory Maintenance 30% The technician is responsible for maintaining the laboratory at the main hospital and at the Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs).

These duties include, but are not limited to: ordering and maintaining laboratory supplies and equipment, researching new techniques and equipment, inventory and shipment of laboratory cases, act as facilitator between CDL North Texas, VAMC DC and dental community based clinics, maintenance of the infection control protocol within the laboratory, oversight of laboratory cleanliness and orderliness, etc.

Teaching/Instruction 20% The Dental Laboratory Technician provides education, training and instruction to other clinic personnel. Responsible for initial and on-going dental laboratory orientation and for year-round one-on-one and group instruction of dental residents. Teaching responsibilities include lab machine safety, equipment maintenance, use of caustic, acidic and flammable chemicals, and laboratory technique.

Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: Monday- Friday 8:00am- 4:30pm Telework: Not Authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Dental Laboratory Technician/PD688-25187-0 and PD04042A

Requirements & Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. GS-8 Requirement- To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have One full year of graduate education.

GS-9 Requirement -To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have two full years of graduate education or a master's degree in a degree relevant to the position NOTE: Graduate education or an internship meets the specialized experience required above GS-5 only in those instances where it is directly related to the work of the position. One full year of graduate education meets the requirements for GS-7.

Two full years of graduate education or a master's degree meets the requirements for GS-9. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement.

Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended. 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/.

Which agency is hiring for this position?

This position is with Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs.

What is the salary for this position?

The posted pay range is $63307 – $90898/yr.

What is the application deadline?

Applications close on 2026-11-02.

Who is eligible to apply?

This position is open under the 'Fed Competitive' hiring path.

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Source: USAJOBS.gov — U.S. Federal Government