Dental Assistant Job Opening

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 08/08/2019.
Basic Requirements :

Citizenship . Citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified candidates in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g, this part.)

Experience and Education .
(1) Experience . Six months experience that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work, or provides familiarity with the work.
OR ,
(2) Education . Successful completion of a 1-year dental assistant program accredited by the American Dental Association's Commission on [Dental] Accreditation [(CODA)].
(3) 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.

English Language Proficiency . Dental assistants must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with chapter 2, section D, paragraph 5a, this part.

Creditable Experience :
(a) Knowledge of Current Professional Dental Assistant Practices . To be creditable, the experience must have required the use of knowledge, skills, abilities (KSAs), and other characteristics (also referred to as "core competencies") associated with current professional dental assisting practice. Evidence of such experience includes graduation from a certified dental assisting training program, experience in private practice, VHA, Department of Defense (DoD), or other federal, state, community or charitable health care agency.
(b) Quality of Experience . Experience is only creditable after the training program certifies that the individual has completed all required courses, an internship if it is part of the program, and graduated with passing grades.
(c) Part-Time Experience . Part-time experience as a dental assistant is credited according to its relationship to full-time workweek. For example, a dental assistant would receive 1 week of full-time credit for each 2 weeks of half-time work.
(2) Expanded Function Level . Expanded function level is defined as possessing the training and ability to provide independent and expert dental procedures as well as providing clinical assistance to the treating dentists in more complex procedural cases. The expanded function dental assistant has an increased depth and breadth of dental practice skills, and has mastered a range of dental procedures and interventions and provides direct patient care within the scope of practice. Examples of procedures may be diagnostic, restorative and/or surgical in nature. The expanded function dental assistant will make independent professional decisions and recommendations to the treating dentist and interdisciplinary care teams. The expanded functional dental assistant has the expertise to participate in the professional development of colleagues through mentorship and teaching.

Grade Determinations :
GS-3
Experience or Education. None beyond the basic requirements.

GS-4
Experience or Education. In addition to the basic requirements, 1 year of experience at the next lower level, OR 2 years of education above high school that included completion of a dental assistant program accredited by the American Dental Association's Commission on [Dental] Accreditation [(CODA)]. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

1. Basic knowledge of infection control and safe instrument handling.
2. Basic knowledge of dental procedures and medical emergencies.
3. Ability to perform basic radiographic image capture and processing/retrieval.
4. Basic knowledge of maintenance, care and storage of dental equipment.
5. Basic knowledge of patient privacy requirements.

GS-5
Experience or Education. In addition to the requirements listed at GS-4 above, applicants must demonstrate at least 1 year of experience equivalent to at the next lower grade level that demonstrates the core competencies described at that level.

OR ,

Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study that included or was supplemented by completion of a dental assistant program by CODA.

In addition to meeting paragraph (1) or (2) above, the applicant must demonstrate the following KSA's:

1. Knowledge of anatomy and ability to evaluate diagnostic quality.
2. Broad knowledge of common medical emergencies and vital signs measurement.
3. Basic knowledge of instruments, materials and standardized dental procedures.
4. Ability to learn and utilize software programs used within VHA.
5. Basic communication skills to provide patient instructions according to established protocol.

GS-6
Experience. At least 1 year of experience [equivalent to] the next lower grade level that demonstrates the core competencies described at that level. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following technical KSAs:

1. Ability to identify normal oral anatomy.
2. Advanced knowledge of instruments, materials, and standardized dental procedures used in all phases of restorative, surgical, endodontic and periodontal care and procedures.
3. Ability to monitor and perform basic interpretation of vital signs.
4. Ability to independently provide procedure-specific patient education and appropriate referral of patient concerns to treating dentist.
5. Ability to capture standard and special dental images of good diagnostic quality in traditional or digital formats.
6. Ability to perform maintenance on dental equipment used for routine and specialty dentistry.
7. Ability to enter and retrieve data utilizing electronic dental records.
8. Ability to perform dental assistant-appropriate laboratory procedures.

References : VA Handbook 5005/15, Part II, Appendix G36, Dental Assistant.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-6. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-3 to GS-6.

Physical Requirements : Heavy Lifting (45 lbs and over); Heavy Carrying (45 lbs and over); Light Carrying (15-44 lbs); Reaching above shoulder; Use of fingers; Both hands required; Walking (up to 4 hours); Standing (up to 4 hours); Both legs required; Ability to distinguish basic colors; Ability to distinguish shades of colors; Hearing (aid permitted); Mental and emotional stability required. This position requires some exposure to blood borne pathogens, body fluids, and other potentially infectious materials.