Dental Assistant job with USAJobs

Duties

Summary

As a Dental Assistant, you will assist in complex restorative, prosthodontic, oral surgical, endodontic, orthodontic, or periodontal treatment; oversee patient records, treatment and prescriptions. You will sterilize and maintain instruments, and prepare surgical trays; assist dentist chair side and perform intraoral procedures. You will operate X-ray equipment for intra and extra oral radiographs; and make minor equipment repairs. This position is located at Rader Dental Clinic, Fort Myer, VA.
Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

• Perform inter-oral procedures, take preliminary impressions for study models, remove sutures, place and remove rubber dams, periopacks, matrix bands, and wedges.
• Operate dental X-ray equipment to take intra and extra-oral radiographs, retrieve digital images and/or develop and finish film.
• Maintain aseptic condition, stabilize tissue for dentist, and cut sutures to include overseeing condition of patient during treatment for signs of fainting, shock, or other distress.
• Schedule patients for treatment, maintain patient records and medical history, schedule medical tests and services, oversee patient prescriptions and other forms.
• Maintain, clean, and perform minor repairs on X-ray equipment and materials to include sterilizing instruments and preparing surgical trays.
• Assist dentist chair side (i.e. passing instruments and materials to and from the dentist) and keep area of operation clear using high speed evacuator, suction tip, and irrigation.
• Assist trainee dental assistants and students and observe and advise them as they perform their duties.

Travel Required

25% or less – You may be expected to travel 10% of the time for this position.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
5

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• This position is a Testing Designated Position (TDP) subject to applicant testing and random drug testing.
• This position is subject to a two year probationary period.
• This position requires Basic Life Support training certification from, or in accordance with, the American Heart Association and American Red Cross.
• This position is subject to screening and update of required immunizations.
• This position has a mandatory seasonal influenza vaccination requirement and is subject to annual vaccination.
• This position requires the completion of a pre-employment Physical Examination and an annual examination thereafter to ensure the continued, required level of physical health and ability or fitness to perform the duties of the position.
• This position requires a radiographer certification and must have successfully completed an educational program that meets or exceeds the standards described in 42 CFR Part 75.
• This position requires the employee to wear a uniform, scrubs, or other appropriate medical professional attire while on duty.
• This position requires the employee to use personal protective equipment provided by the employer.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: US Citizens

In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements described below. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document .

Radiology Certification: Public Law 97-35 requires that persons who administer radiologic procedures meet the credentialing standards in 42 CFR Part 75. The following meet these requirements:

(1) Persons who meet the credentialing standards in 42 CFR Part 75. Successful completion of 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 are certified as a radiographer in their field.

(2) Persons employed by the Federal Government as radiologic personnel prior to the effective date of the regulation (January 13, 1986) who show evidence of current or fully satisfactory performance or certification of such from a licensed practitioner such as a doctor of medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, podiatry, or chiropractic who prescribes radiologic procedures to others.

(3) Persons first employed by the Federal Government as radiologic personnel after the effective date of the regulation who (a) received training from institutions in a State or foreign jurisdiction that did not accredit training in that particular field at the time of graduation, or (b) practiced in a State or foreign jurisdiction that did not license that particular field or did not allow special eligibility to take a licensure examination for those who did not graduate from an accredited educational program, provided such persons show evidence of training, experience, and competence, as determined by OPM or the employing agency.

(4) Persons that have successfully completed an educational program that included curriculum in dental radiography, but the program does not meet OR persons are unsure if it meets the credentialing standards of 42 CFR Part 75.

NOTE: To meet this requirement, you will be asked to complete the alternate radiology certification form. If it is determined that your educational program does not meet the credentialing standards in 42 CFR Part 75, you will be required to complete an alternative certification program, such as the Radiation Health and Safety (RHS) examination administered by the Dental Assisting National Board (DANB) or Introduction to Basic Concepts in Dental Radiology administered by the American Dental Assistant Association.

Any fee for the alternative certification program will be the financial responsibility of the applicant and must be completed prior to an established appointment effective date.

In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below:

Experience required: To qualify based on your experience, your resume must describe at least one year of experience which prepared you to do the work in this job. Specialized experience is defined as: providing chair side assistance supporting a dental specialist by performing intra-oral procedures, taking preliminary impressions, and operating dental x-ray equipment. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service GS-04.

Some federal jobs allow you to substitute your education for the required experience in order to qualify. For this job, you may qualify if your education meets the definitions below:

Education: Successful completion of at least a full four-year course of study in a dental assistant or dental hygiene program that included at least 24 semester hours of courses in radiation physics; radiation biology; radiation health, safety and protection; X-ray films and radiographic film quality, radiographic techniques; darkroom and processing techniques; and film mounting.

OR

Combination of Experience and Education: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of education beyond two years (total semester hours minus 60) by 60. Add the two percentages.

“Applicants must meet all eligibility requirements and minimum qualification requirements prescribed by OPM within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement.”

You will be evaluated on the basis of your level of competency (knowledge, skills, abilities) in the following areas:

• Equipment Preparation and Maintenance
• Office Operations
• Pre and Post Procedural Instruction
• Procedural and Diagnostic Support

Education

FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html

Additional information

• Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration.
• You will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship.
• Two year trial/probationary period may be required.
• Direct deposit of pay is required.
• Selection is subject to restrictions resulting from Department of Defense referral system for displaced employees.
• This is a Career Program (CP) 53 – Dental Assistant position.
• You may claim military spouse preference (MSP).
• Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.
• Salary includes applicable locality pay or Local Market Supplement.
• If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application .
• Payment of Permanent Change of Station (PCS) costs is not authorized, based on a determination that a PCS move is not in the Government interest.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Once the announcement has closed, a review of your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) will be used to determine whether you meet the qualification requirements listed on this announcement. If you are minimally qualified, your résumé and supporting documentation will be compared against your responses to the assessment questionnaire to determine your level of experience. If, after reviewing your résumé and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience, you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully when applying, errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

You should list any relevant performance appraisals and incentive awards in your resume as that information may be taken into consideration during the selection process. If selected, you may be required to provide supporting documentation.

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP). If you are a Federal employee in the competitive service and your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority for this position. To receive selection priority, you must: (1) meet ICTAP eligibility criteria (2) be rated well-qualified for the position and; (3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your ICTAP eligibility. To be considered well-qualified and receive selection priority applicants must satisfy all qualification requirements for the position and receive a score of 90 or above. Additional information about the program is on OPM’s Career Transition Resources website .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Confidential

Drug test required
Yes

Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk

Trust determination process
Credentialing

Required Documents

The documents you are required to submit vary based on the authority you are using to apply (i.e., applying as a veteran, applying as a current permanent Federal employee, applying as a reinstatement, etc). Please review the following links to see which documents you need to provide to prove your eligibility to apply: Applicant Merit Checklist and Proof of Eligibility .

As described above, your complete application includes your resume, your responses to the online questionnaire, and documents which prove your eligibility to apply. If you fail to provide these documents, you will be marked as having an incomplete application package and you will not be considered any further.

1. Your resume:

• Your resume may be submitted in any format and must support the specialized experience described in this announcement.
• If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate material or content, it will not be used to make eligibility and qualification determinations and you may not be considered for this vacancy.
• For qualifications determinations your resume must contain hours worked per week and the dates of employment (i.e., HRS per week and month/year to month/year or month/year to present). If your resume does not contain this information, your application may be marked as incomplete and you may not receive consideration for this position.
• For additional information see: What to include in your resume .

2. Other supporting documents:

• Cover Letter, optional
• Most recent Performance Appraisal, if applicable
• Proof of Eligibility to Apply: Your application must include the documents which prove you are eligible to apply for the vacancy. The Proof of Eligibility document describes authorities commonly used in merit promotion recruitment and what document(s) are required to prove you meet the requirements of the authority. You must meet the requirements of at least one of the authorities listed in the Who May Apply section above to receive further consideration.
• Time-in-grade documentation: If you are applying for a higher grade and your SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you meet the one year time-in-grade requirement so you will need to provide an SF-50 which clearly demonstrates you meet the time-in-grade requirements (examples of appropriate SF-50s include Promotions, Within-grade Grade/Range Increases, and SF-50s with an effective date more than one year old).
• This position has an individual occupational requirement and/or allows for substitution of education for experience. If you meet this requirement based on education you MUST submit a copy of your transcript with your application package or you will be rated ineligible. See: Transcripts and Licenses
• This position requires a job-related license or certification. You MUST submit a copy of your license or certification with your application package or you will be rated ineligible. See: Transcripts and Licenses

NOTE: Documents submitted as part of the application package, to include supplemental documents, may be shared beyond the Human Resources Office. Some supplemental documents such as military orders and marriage certificates may contain personal information for someone other than you. You may sanitize these documents to remove another person’s personal information before you submit your application. You may be asked to provide an un-sanitized version of the documents if you are selected to confirm your eligibility.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education .

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.