Dental Assistant

The Eastern Oklahoma VA Health Care System is recruiting for four intermittent Dental Assistants to help care for our Veterans in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on a one year appointment. Care will primarily be given at either the Ernest Childers VA Outpatient Clinic or the Yale Avenue VA Clinic. This is an open continuous announcement until September 25, 2026. Qualified applicants will be considered and referred as vacancies become available.

Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Duties provided below are for the full performance level. Employees at the full performance level serve with the ability to perform the full range of duties with some independence in assigned specialties, with indirect supervision from the lead dental assistant, dental assistant supervisor or treating dentist. The level of supervision and independence in performing required duties will be dependent on the grade level selected and found qualified for.

• Identify normal oral anatomy.
• Recognize instruments, materials, and standardized dental procedures used in all phases of restorative, surgical, endodontic and periodontal care and procedures.
• Monitor and perform basic interpretation of vital signs.
• Independently provide procedure-specific patient education and appropriate referral of patient concerns to treating dentist.
• Capture standard and special dental images of good diagnostic quality in traditional or digital formats.
• Perform maintenance on dental equipment used for routine and specialty dentistry.
• Enter and retrieve data utilizing electronic dental records.
• Perform dental assistant-appropriate laboratory procedures.
• Assignments at the full performance level include, but are not limited to: Using the concepts of four-handed dentistry; assists with specialty procedures including oral surgery, periodontal therapy, endodontic, prosthodontic and implant placement and restoration.
• Anticipates dentists/surgeons/specialists' needs at each stage of treatment; takes preliminary impressions; selects and manipulates a variety of gypsums and waxes; pours, trims and evaluates the quality of diagnostic casts; fabricates custom trays.
• Provide dental assistant coverage at various Community Based Outpatient Clinics as needed.

Work Schedule: 7:00am-5:30pm, Intermittent, 0-40 hours per week
Compressed/Flexible: Authorized
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 52816-A, 52817-A, 52818-A, 52819-A
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Must be a US Citizen.
• Experience and Education
  • Experience. Six months experience that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work, or provides familiarity with the work, OR
  • Education. Successful completion of a 1-year dental assistant program accredited by the American Dental Association's Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA).
  • 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.
  • Provisions for Certification of Radiologic Competence
    • Successful completion of the Dental Radiation Health and Safety Examination administered by the Dental Assisting National Board, Inc., OR
    • 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, OR
    • Successful completion of a radiation health and safety program or examination approved by a state board of dentistry or the Department of Defense (DoD).
  • Non-certified applicants who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements for certification of radiologic competence may be given a temporary appointment as a graduate dental assistant under the authority of 38 U.S.C. § 7405 (a) (1) (D). Failure to obtain certification during that period is justification for termination of the temporary appointment. This will result in removal from the GS-681 series and] may result in termination of employment.
  • Certification in basic life support methods is highly desirable.
  • 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 highly desirable for the appointment of Dental Assistants up to and including the full performance level, and is required for all positions above the full performance level.
• English Language Proficiency: Dental assistants must be proficient in spoken and written English.

Grade Determinations. In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

Dental Assistant, GS-3

• Experience or Education. None beyond the basic requirements.

Dental Assistant, 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).

-AND-In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

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

Dental Assistant, 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.

-AND-In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

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

Staff Dental Assistant, GS-6 (Full Performance Level)

• Experience. At least 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level that demonstrates the core competencies described at that level.

-AND-In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following technical Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

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

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

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: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.

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/.

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.