Dental Assistant

The Dental Assistant is a member of the Dental Service, which provides restorative, endodontic, periodontal, removeable and fixed prosthodontics, implant restorative, and minor oral surgery procedures. The Dental Service is aligned under the Surgical/Specialty Care Service Line.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Duties include but are not limited to the following:

• Chairside Assisting
  • Assists in routine general Dental procedures using four-handed dentistry.
  • Sets up and breaks down operatories for procedures, ensuring efficient room turnover
  • Passes instruments safely, accurately and efficiently
  • Maintains clear operative field and provides effective and comfortable tissue retraction
  • Prepares dental medicaments and impression materials per manufacturer instructions
  • Performs all intra-operative procedures within standard infection-control protocols
  • Assists in specialized procedures (oral surgery, endodontics, periodontics) with guidance from senior or supervisory dental assistant or the treating dentist.
• Direct Patient Care
  • Takes impressions for diagnostic casts and preliminary prothesis.
  • Removes temporary crowns and bridges and cleans preparations
  • Places rubber dams and matrix bands.
  • Completes medication reconciliation as appropriate.
  • Provides Post-Operative patient education.
• Dental Imaging
  • Captures diagnostic-quality images, properly exposed and oriented.
  • Implements radiation-safety techniques and minimizes retakes.
  • Completes imaging requests within required timeframes.
• Infection Control and Equipment Sterilization
  • Follows all infection-control standards for operatory set up and cleanup
  • Prepares instruments and materials in a manner that supports timely clinical care.
  • Processes instruments for sterilization per SPD standards.
  • Demonstrate proper infection control procedures during dental imaging.
  • Performs reprocessing of reusable medical devices within assigned competencies.
• Dental Laboratory Functions:
  • Pour impressions and fabricates study models.
  • Completes additional laboratory tasks as time and skill allow.
  • Performs other dental laboratory duties as assigned.
• Clerical Functions
  • Assists dentists in charting clinical findings and treatment plans in patient records
  • Helps manage the provider's schedule, including filling gaps due to cancellations or no-shows
  • Uses VA software for electronic documentation, communication and record retrieval (VistA, CPRS, DRM+)
  • Locates appointments and properly completes all dental laboratory cards to ensure readiness for patient care
• Patient Safety
  • Modifies care by patient's age, condition and abilities
• Care Coordination and Patient Management
  • Contributes to treatment-planning discussions and processes
  • Evaluates chief complaints and identifies conditions requiring immediate attention
  • Verifies that informed consent has been obtained for planned procedures
• Other duties as assigned

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:30am to 5:00pm; alternate Fridays off
Relocation/Recruitment Incentive: May Be Authorized for Highly Qualified Candidates
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases
Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)
Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.
Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.
Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.
Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #:000000
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• 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).] OR
      • 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.]
• Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019
• English Language Proficiency. Dental assistants must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with chapter 2, section D, paragraph 5a, this part.

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).

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

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:]
• Demonstrated 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]

GS-6 [Staff Dental Assistant (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. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the [following] technical KSAs [ ]:

• Demonstrated 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 procedures

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: You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination.

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.