Clarification from the agency

OPEN TO CURRENT PERMANENT IRON MOUNTAIN VA EMPLOYEES ONLY

Videos

Duties:
Customer Service/Veteran-Centered Care:

• Shows courtesy, respect, and a positive attitude for patients, co-workers and the
  public.
• Assists customers with questions or concerns, provides service recovery
• Delivers care that reflects the Veteran's and the family's personal goals, personal preferences, and freedom of choice
• Demonstrates knowledge and application of patient and family-centered care in written care plans, instructions to patients, and in observation of the actual care provided.
• Demonstrates non-judgmental understanding of the Veteran's and family's knowledge, values, beliefs, and cultural backgrounds
• Demonstrates collaborative orientation to working with patients and families.

Patient Care:

• Sets up operatory for planned dental procedure and cleans dental unit for timely turnover.
• Complies with patient identification, time-out and reusable medical equipment processes.
• Possesses knowledge of medical treatment adjuncts and indications and ability to safely administer medicaments (e.g. intrasulcular medicaments, local anesthesia, sulcular lavage, applying/removing periodontal surgical dressings); Utilizes advanced medical assessment techniques (interviewing patients and evaluating clinical findings such as normal and critical lab values) and adapts treatment based on medical and psychological issues.
• Handles instruments safely, accurately, and efficiently.
• Takes and records vital signs, reviews medical history.
• Charts oral conditions.
• Assesses patient's medical, dental, anxiety/phobias, medications and comorbidities.
• Assesses the impact of patient's medical and dental condition on maintaining oral health.
• Recognizes age-related changes in individual patients, adapts patient environment, and maximizes patient's physical comfort.
• Indicates use for, and utilizes adjunctive diagnostic and therapeutic equipment safely (e.g. sonic, magnetostrictive ultrasonic, and piezo ultrasonic scalers); Provides safe and thorough prophylaxis, gross debridement, scaling and root planing, and soft-tissue curettage for complex periodontal and restorative cases.
• Provides safe care for patients with complex medical/psychiatric issues.
• Cleans dental prostheses, fixed and removable.
• Applies appropriate topical fluoride solutions or varnishes.
• Administers topical anesthetic agents.
• Administers local anesthesia (check to ensure hygienist's state license allows and certification is current).
• Applies desensitizing agents.
• Performs routine maintenance of equipment components such as suction traps, water lines, etc.
• Manages dental recall system, referring patients to the doctor for additional care when needed.
• Accomplishes all procedures within standard infection-control protocols.

Patient Education:

• Provides patient education appropriate to the Veteran's needs and oral condition.
• Explains hygiene procedures, indications, complications and expected outcomes to individual patient and caregiver.
• Prepares and provides education on periodontal disease, wellness, health maintenance, oral hygiene practices, parafunctional habits, and effect of illness, addictions, medications and tobacco on the oral cavity.
• Applies adult education techniques/methods to educate patients and judges patients' cognitive abilities.
• Organizes curriculum and provides healthcare education regarding relationships between medical and dental pathologies to groups, interdisciplinary staff, and other outside contacts.

Dental Imaging:

• Takes diagnostic quality images that are accurately oriented and exposed.
• Utilizes dental-imaging safety techniques with minimal retakes;
• Possesses advanced knowledge of oral and dental anatomy including root anatomy, common pathologies and anomalies, and indications for advanced radiographic imaging and proper technique to detect potential abnormalities.

Infection control and Equipment Sterilization:

• Demonstrates proper infection-control procedures in setting up and cleaning up operatory and in exposing images
• Properly prepares instruments for sterilization by SPS standards;
• Prepares instruments in a manner that does not delay clinical care.

Clerical Functions:

• Assists patients in scheduling appointments.
• Assists in filling gaps in the schedule due to late cancellations and failed appointments.

Information Management:

• Maintains patient confidentiality per HIPAA with written and verbal information
• Follows computer security regulations.

Patient Safety:

• Modifies care as appropriate for patient's age and abilities (patient transfer and position).
• Modifies care based on patient's medical, dental, anxiety/phobias, medications and comorbidities.
• Provides accurate and understandable instructions to patients.
• Participates in patient identification and time out per TJC requirements.
• Monitors patient condition during treatment, being alert for signs of physical distress.
• Other Duties Are Assigned

Conditions of employment

• 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.
• You may be required to serve a trial period.
• 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 dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

• U.S. Citizenship: Must be a U.S. Citizen. Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• English Language Proficiency: Must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d).
• Education: Associate Degree or higher in an accredited dental hygiene program. This program must be accredited by the American Dental Association's Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA). (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED)
• Licensure: Applicants must be currently licensed to practice as a dental hygienist with a full, current, and unrestricted license in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia. (COPY OF LICENSE REQUIRED)
• 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. Accredited dental hygiene programs contain curriculum addressing radiologic procedures which will meet the requirement for certification as dental radiographers. Non-certified applicants, who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements for licensure, may be given a temporary appointment as a graduate dental hygienist under the authority of 38 U.S.C. § 7405(c)(2)(B) for a period not to exceed 2 years. Failure to obtain certification during this time period may result in termination of employment.
• Grandfathering Provision: All individuals employed in VHA in this occupational series or in another occupational series performing the duties as described in the qualification standard on the effective date of the qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the grade held including positive education and licensure/trademark/registration/certification. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements required in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply:
• (1) Employees may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level or changed to lower grade within the occupation, 4 but may not be promoted beyond the journeyman level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.
• (2) Employees in an occupation that requires a licensure/certification only at higher grade levels must meet the licensure/certification requirement before they can be promoted to those higher grade levels.
• (3) Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.
• (4) Employees who are converted to title 38 hybrid status under this provision and subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation.
• (5) Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification that meet all the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation.
• Foreign Education: To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must be deemed at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. program by a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials

IN ADDITION TO MEETING THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS LISTED ABOVE, YOU MUST MEET THE GS-10 GRADE REQUIREMENTS TO QUALIFY FOR THIS POSITION.

GS-10 LEVEL GRADE REQUIREMENTS
Experience. At least one year of experience equivalent to the GS-09 grade level. Specialized experience includes, but is not limited to: They provide direct patient care and receive guidance from higher-level or supervisory staff members for only the most complex patients and require only general supervision from a dentist. Assignments at this level include but are not limited to patient medical assessment (e.g. medical/dental history, social history, vital signs, full periodontal assessment and charting), disease and treatment management recommendations, denture care, scaling and root planing, radiographs/image interpretation, patient education (e.g. post-procedure, 7 tobacco cessation, caries and perio-disease prevention), behavior management, management of stable medically compromised patients (including risk factors), instrument sharpening, inter-service communication.

AND

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: You also must demonstrate the following KSAs:

1. Knowledge of medical assessment techniques including interviewing and evaluating clinical findings (e.g. normal and critical lab values) to adapt treatment based on medical and psychological issues.
2. Advanced knowledge of oral and dental anatomy including root anatomy, common pathologies and anomalies, and indications for advanced radiographic imaging and proper technique to detect potential abnormalities.
3. Knowledge of medical treatment adjuncts and indications and the ability to safely administer medicaments (e.g. intrasulcular medicaments, local anesthesia, sulcular lavage, applying and removing periodontal surgical dressing).
4. Knowledge of advanced adjunctive diagnostic and therapeutic equipment, indication for use and ability to utilize safely (e.g. sonic, magnetostrictive ultrasonic, and piezo ultrasonic scalers).
5. Skill in providing safe and thorough prophylaxis, root planing and softtissue curettage for complex periodontal and/or restorative cases and skill in providing safe care for patients with complex medical/psychiatric issues.
6. Ability to apply adult education techniques/methods, organize curriculum, judge cognitive ability, and provide healthcare education regarding relationships between medical and dental pathologies to 9 groups, interdisciplinary staff, and other outside contacts

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 candidate's 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.