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***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION***

NOTE: This announcement has been extended to close on July 29, 2025. Applicant(s) who previously applied, do not need to re-apply.

NOTE: This is a TERM appointment (not-to-exceed 3 years). Term appointments are non-status, nonpermanent appointments of limited duration (more than 1 year but not more than 4). Term employees are eligible to earn leave and generally have the same benefits as permanent employees including health and life insurance, within-grade increases and Federal Employees Retirement System and Thrift Savings Plan coverage. Term appointments may be extended without further competition (up to the 4-year maximum). The appointment to a Term position does not confer eligibility for promotion or reassignment to other positions or the ability to be non-competitively converted to permanent employment.

Duties will include, but may not be limited to the following:

• Fabricates and constructs complete and partial dentures.
• Boxes impressions and pours casts. Mounts casts on indicated articulator.
• Constructs customer trays, registration bases, and occlusion rims.
• Selects and sets up artificial teeth.
• Waxes, flasks, and boils out dentures.
• Mixes, packs acrylic, and utilizes Heat Injection techniques to fabricate dentures.
• Finishes and polishes dentures.
• Surveys master cast to implement the dentist's design for removable partial dentures.
• Fabricates components to include, bending and adaptation of wrought iron clasps, implements laboratory phase of altered cast technique for correcting tissue impressions.
• Applies knowledge of CAD/CAM techniques, and computer skills to scan, send/receive scans of models or impressions, and import scans into CAD/CAM software.
• Prepares and fabricates Crown and Bridge casework. Mixes, pours, and processes impressions using materials and sequence of techniques appropriate to the type of die being constructed. Designs, mills, polishes and fires prepared and scanned CAD/CAM images, includes scans to be imported to Dental Laboratory software.
• Fabricates and constructs special dental appliances, e.g., soft maxillary mandibular occlusal guards, fluoride carrier trays, waxes up missing teeth, constructs stents for fixed prosthetic procedure, dental implants, obstructive sleep apnea appliances, etc.
• Receives, interprets, and processes prescriptions.
• Controls shipments and request supplies timely.
• Maintains records and statistics, and is accountable for the security of prosthodontic teeth, gold, and other precious metals used in the laboratory.
• Performs care and maintenance of instruments and equipment.
• Adheres to infection control measures to prevent cross contamination to self or patients.
• Performs other duties as necessary.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary 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.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

Qualifications

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Requires one full year of specialized experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-6) in the Federal service. Qualifying experience includes: Use of dental laboratory material such as impression materials, plasters, stones, hydrocolloids, waxes, metals, acrylics, porcelain, and similar materials. Use of laboratory equipment such as hand tools, dental lathes, engines, and hand pieces, furnaces, casting machines, presses, flasks, and related equipment. Use of precision instruments such as articulators, surveyors, and microanalyzers. Construction of dental prosthetic appliances. Such assignments require a practical knowledge of oral anatomy and dentition, as well as laboratory procedures. (Resume must clearly support responses to the online questionnaire to be creditable.)

OR

SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION FOR EXPERIENCE (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED): Successful completion of one full year of graduate education directly related to the work of this Dental Laboratory Technician position.

OR

COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED): Equivalent combinations of successfully completed graduate education and specialized experience, as described above, are also qualifying. Only graduate education in excess of 6 months (e.g., 9 semester hours) is creditable.

You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position:

• Analytical Thinking
• Applies Technology to Tasks
• Medicine and Dentistry
• Technical Competence

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 WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s).

Your responses to the assessment questionnaire will be reviewed along with the information provided in your resume and supporting documentation to determine if you are qualified for the position. If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your rating may be lowered and/or you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

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.

Candidates who apply under All U.S. Citizens announcements will be rated and ranked using Category Rating procedures. Qualified candidates will be assigned to a quality category. The categories are defined as follows:

• Best qualified - applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are highly proficient in all requirements of the job and can perform effectively in the position;
• Highly qualified - applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the requirements of the job;
• Well qualified - applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in some, but not all, of the requirements of the job; and
• Qualified - applicants possessing experience and/or education that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors.