Dental Assistant

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Summary

This job is open to Duties Requirements How you will be evaluated Required documents How to apply

Duties

The Dental Assistant provides assistance with general dentistry specialty procedures including oral surgery, periodontal therapy, endodontic, prosthodontic, and implant placement and restoration services to the Veteran population enrolled in the Bay Pines VA Healthcare System.

Duties and responsibilities of the Dental Assistant include but are not limited to:

• Proficiently provides procedures commonly recognized by the dental profession for safe performance by a dental assistant
• Four-handed chair-side dental assisting, dental lab procedures, and performing other such procedures as may be delegated by the dentist consistent with the Florida State Dental Practice Act
• Complies with all Patient Safety processes, Infection control, patient identification, time-out, informed consent, medication reconciliation, and hand-off communication
• Follows standard operating procedures for all reusable medical equipment, RME instruments, materials, and personal protective equipment (PPE) in use in the dental clinical areas
• Prepares the operatory with all needed equipment, materials, and supplies for planned dental procedures prior to seating the patient and cleans the operatory after the patient is dismissed for timely turnover
• Captures and saves diagnostic quality digital radiographs of the mouth, gums, jaws, and/or teeth, both intraoral and extraoral, within the desired time frame
• Anticipates the dentists need at each stage of the treatment procedure, including specialty procedures in oral surgery, periodontal therapy, endodontics, prosthodontics, and implant placement and retention, and makes instrumentation and/or materials readily available, whether in the dental clinic, operating room, or the patients bedside
• Employs proper techniques and dexterity in the practice of four-handed dentistry
• Prepares and mixes dental materials per manufacturers instructions
• Applies cavity bases and liners, desensitizing agents, fluoride foam, gel, or varnish, tooth conditioners, bonding agents, and topical anesthesia prescribed by the dentist to specified areas of the oral cavity
• Fabricates temporary acrylic, stainless steel, and polycarbonate crowns
• Removes crown, bridge, temporaries, and cleans the prepared tooth of debris
• Removes sutures, periodontal dressings, and socket post-extraction dressings
• Provides coronal polishing of natural teeth, including removing cement and debris from teeth and restorations
• Provides accurate and understandable procedure-specific patient education, including preventive dental care practices, care of prosthetic appliances, demonstration of oral health care regimens, and post-operative restorative instructions
• Performs routine maintenance of equipment components, such as suction traps and water lines
• Has a working knowledge of laboratory procedures, materials, and methods, including safety and proper handling of laboratory equipment
• Performs dental laboratory duties, cleans and polishes dentures and other prosthetic appliances, pours and trims dental stone models, constructs custom impression trays, fabricates bite rims, and vacuum-formed stints, soft mouth guards, and fluoride trays

Requirements

This job is open to United States Citizenship Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy English Language Proficiency Dental assistants must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with chapter 2, section D, paragraph 5a of VA Handbook 5005 Qualification Standards Basic Experience and/or Education Experience: Six months experience that demonstrates the applicants ability to perform the work or provides familiarity with the work Education: Successful completion of a 1-year dental assistant program accredited by the American Dental Associations Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) Experience: Combination 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 Provisions for Certification of Radiologic Competence Successful completion of the Dental Radiation Health and Safety Examination administered by the Dental Assisting National Board, Inc. Successful completion of the Principles and Practice of Dental Radiology and Radiographic Safety courses and examinations developed by the Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Dentistry Successful completion of a radiation health and safety program or examination approved by a state board of dentistry or the Department of Defense (DoD) May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation, only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria Certification by the Dental Assisting National Board (DANB) The American Dental Association (ADA) recognizes DANB as the national certification for Dental Assistants DANB certification is not required but is highly desirable for the appointment of Dental Assistants up to and including the full performance level Certification in basic life support methods is highly desirable

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC We may not make assumptions regarding your experience Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified Please follow all instructions carefully Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment 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, religions, spiritual community, student, social Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate, e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process, gain additional knowledge regarding a candidates abilities and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment Veterans and Transitioning Service Members Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members

Required documents

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package, which includes:

• Proof of Dental Radiology and Radiographic Safety course completion
• Resume
• Special Note for Applications: To complete your application, please use the following link: https://www.va.gov/ohrms/QualificationStandards to download the standard Clinical Resume Document. This one-page document does not need to be modified and must be uploaded into the two-page restricted Resume document upload field
• Your full resume, C.V., may be uploaded without page limitation into the Other document upload field
• The following documents are accepted and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position:
• Cover Letter
• DD-214 Statement of Service
• Disability Letter
• License
• Your full resume may be uploaded without page limitation into the Other document uploaded field
• Proof of Dental Radiology and Radiographic Safety course completion
• Professional Certification
• Resume
• SF-15
• SF-50 Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript
• Current permanent federal employees, please submit recent SF-50 from the past 12 months, which clearly shows current permanent federal eligibility
• Examples of appropriate SF-50s include:
• General adjustment
• Cost of living Increase
• Within grade increases at the highest grade held
• Promotions
• SF-50s at the highest grade held within the past year
• Cash Award benefit changes or time off Awards
• SF-50s at the highest grade held within the past year do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted
• Please check your electronic official personnel folder (eOPF) for your most recent SF-50
• HR will not contact you for more information or documents
• You can attach more than 1 SF-50
• All current permanent federal employees applicants must ensure that they have included one or more SF-50s showing current permanent employment status in the past 12 months

How to apply

All applicants are encouraged to apply online To apply for this position, you must complete the full questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM ET on 08/03/2026, to receive consideration To preview the questionnaire, click: https://apply.usajobs.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12877138 To