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Dental Assistant

Ralph H Johnson Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center | North Charleston, SC

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Posted Date 1/26/2026
Description Will serve as a Staff Dental Assistant in the dental clinic at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, North Charleston Clinic. Duties will be assigned by the supervisory Dental Assistant up to the level of training and expertise.

THIS OPEN & CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT (OCA) ESTABLISHES A STANDING REGISTER OF ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.


Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

The Staff Dental Assistant assists the dentist in many aspects of direct patient care and performs other clinical and clerical functions under direct supervision. Your duties will be necessary to assist the dentists in many aspects of direct patient care and perform other clinical and clerical functions with direct supervision. You will perform a wide range of intra-oral dental procedures and provide chairside assistance in the clinic setting with an emphasis on four-handed dentistry.

Major duties may include, but are not limited to:
Customer Service.
  • Shows courtesy, respect, and a positive attitude of patients, coworkers, and the public.
  • Assists customers with questions or concerns.
Patient Care.
  • Sets up operatory and/or surgery suite for planned dental procedure(s) and cleans dental unit for timely turnover.
  • Possesses advance knowledge of instruments, materials, and standardized dental procedures used in all phases of restorative, surgical, and periodontal care.
  • Assists in routine general dental procedures using concepts of four-handed dentistry.
  • Passes instruments safely, accurately, and efficiently.
  • Makes final denture impression trays and prepares bite rims.
Dental Imaging.
  • Posses the ability to identify normal anatomy.
  • Exposes both standard and specialty dental imaging (i.e., TMJ, cephalometric, cone beam) in traditional and/or digital formats.
  • Captures images characterized by diagnostic quality and accurately oriented and exposed
  • Utilizes dental-imaging safety techniques and minimizing retakes.
  • Accomplishes imaging requests within desired time frame.
Infection Control and Equipment Sterilization.
  • Demonstrates proper infection control procedures in setting up and operatories.
  • Disinfects oral appliances to prevent cross contamination.
  • Properly prepares instruments for transfer to SPS for sterilization.
  • Follows all Standard Operating Procedures for Reusable Medical Equipment
  • Works closely with SPS to ensure availability of instruments so that clinical care is not delayed.
Clerical Functions.
  • Assists in filling gaps in the doctor's schedule due to late cancellations and failed appointments.
  • Initiates computerized progress notes.
  • Assists dentist in charting findings and treatment plans in patient records.
Information Management.
  • Maintains patient confidentiality per HIPAA with written and verbal information. Follows computer security regulations.
Patient Safety.
  • Modifies care as necessitated by patient's age and abilities (patient transfer and position).
  • Provides accurate and understandable instructions to patients.
  • Participates in patient identification and time out per The Joint Commission requirements.
  • Monitors patient condition during treatment, being alert for signs of physical distress.
Employee Education.
  • Complies with Employee Education requirements.
  • Completes mandatory annual training sessions
Work Schedule: Monday -Friday, 6:30am - 3:00pm
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).
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 Authorized.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 59941F
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Notifications:
  • THIS OPEN & CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT (OCA) ESTABLISHES A STANDING REGISTER OF ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS, which closes on April 22, 2026. The initial cut-off date for referral of eligible applications will be on or about February 23, 2026 with subsequent reviews every other week as additional vacancies occur, or on an as-needed basis, until positions are filled. Please see the "What To Expect Next" area of the announcement which provides additional information on the referral process for this type of announcement.
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: 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 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)
OR,

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).
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 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.

GRADE DETERMINATION for Dental Assistant, GS-06 (Full Performance Level). In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met:

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

At the GS-05 level include but are not limited to: responds to basic medical emergencies; measures and records vital signs; provides pre- and post- operative instructions; maintains a field of operation during dental procedures through the use of retraction, suction, irrigation, drying, placing and removing cotton rolls; using the concepts of four- handed dentistry, assists with basic restorative procedures; mixes basic dental materials; assists in preparation of laboratory prescription forms; applies pressure indicator paste to removable prostheses; exposes and processes basic dental radiographs; mounts and labels dental radiographs and/or saves digital imaging to electronic medical records; evaluates radiographs for diagnostic quality; maintains routine dental equipment per manufacturer and dental service standards.
Knowledge, skills and abilities at the GS-05 grade level are:
  • 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 Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following technical KSAs:
  • 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-06. The actual grade at which an applicant will be selected for this vacancy is GS-06.

Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

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/.
Salary59,031.00 Annual
Opportunity Type
Job

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