The licensed dental hygienist is to provide dental oral hygiene and ancillary dental services to the veteran population enrolled at the Northern Arizona VA Health Care System(NAVAHCS), Prescott Arizona The incumbent will function as a staff dental hygienist performing both routine and advanced clinical periodontal procedures and techniques at the Dental Clinic. The hygienist works under the general supervision of a staff dentist for all functional duties. This is a part-time position. Basic Requirements: Citizenship. Citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified candidates in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g, this part.) 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. 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. English Language Proficiency. Dental hygienists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d). GS-09 Experience: Applicants must have at least 1 year of experience as a Dental Hygienist equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-08). In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSA's: Ability to assess the patient's medical, dental, anxiety/phobias, medications and comorbidities for safe patient care. Ability to assess the impact of patient's medical and dental condition on maintaining oral health, recognize age-related changes in individual patients, adapt patient environment, and maximize patient's physical comfort. Skill in detecting plaque and calculus, dental abnormalities/pathologies, assessing inflammation and providing safe instrumentation for each procedure. Knowledge to select appropriate available fluoride products and indications/limitations for safe and proper application. Knowledge of hygiene procedures in order to explain the process and indication, complications and expected treatment outcomes for each. Knowledge of proper usage of dental radiography equipment, radiation safety, assessment of proper image capture and interpretation of films. Skill in educating patients and caregivers on periodontal disease, wellness, health maintenance, oral hygiene practices, parafunctional habits, and effects of illness, addictions, medications and tobacco on the oral cavity. Assignments. Employees at this level serve as staff dental hygienists at the full performance level. It is expected that 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 planning, radiographs/image interpretation, patient education (e.g. post-procedure, tobacco cessation, caries and perio-disease prevention), behavior management, management of stable medically compromised patients (including risk factors), instrument sharpening, inter-service communication. Preferred Specialized Experience: Motivated individual adept at practicing in a fast paced, group practice environment. Experience with medically compromised and physically handicapped patients is preferred. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-09. References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G37 - Dental Hygienist Qualification Standard. Physical Requirements: Work is generally sedentary. Flexibility is required to accommodate events and activities occurring in other than normal duty hours. Mobility is required in terms of staging and assisting staff with equipment and other required materials. ["The major duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to: Dental prophylaxis, scaling and root planning, subgingival curettage Application of topical fluorides including varnishes Provides patient education including demonstration of oral hygiene procedures and oral health care regimens Taking and recording of a patient's blood pressure, pulse, temperature, and medical history and charting of oral conditions Maintenance of instrument and operatory infection control in compliance with Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) standards for clinical and laboratory dental operations including the testing of water quality Preparation of instrument trays Fabrication, placement and removal of temporary restorations including stainless steel and polycarbonate crowns Chart clinical findings and treatment plan in the Dental Record Manager (DRM) component of the computerized patient medical record (CPRS) Follow all VHA, Medical Center and Services Directives, Memorandums and Policies Effectively communicates with the patient's assigned primary dentist to facilitate and accomplishment needed dental care Willingly accepts additional and special assignments that are necessary to meet service goals or customer needs (1) Knowledge of Current Professional Dental Hygienist Practices. To be creditable, the experience must have required the use of knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (also referred to as \"clinical competencies\") associated with current professional dental hygiene practice. Evidence of such experience includes experience in private practice, U. S. military services, local/state/federal health care or educational facilities. (2) Quality of Experience. Experience as a dental hygienist in private practice, U.S. military services, local/state/federal health care or educational facilities must be verified with the practitioner or the supervising officers. Experience satisfying this requirement must be active professional practice which may be paid or non-paid employment as a dental hygienist. (3) Part-Time Experience. Part-time experience as a dental hygienist is credited according to its relationship to full-time work week. For example, a dental hygienist would receive 1 week of full-time credit for each 2 weeks of half-time work. Work Schedule: Wednesday- Friday 7:00am - 3:30pm Virtual: This is NOT a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required"]
The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the largest integrated health care system in the United States, providing care at 1,321 health care facilities, including 172 VA Medical Centers and 1,138 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity (VHA outpatient clinics) to over 9 million Veterans enrolled in the VA health care program. VHA Medical Centers provide a wide range of services including traditional hospital-based services such as surgery, critical care, mental health, orthopedics, pharmacy, radiology and physical therapy. In addition, most of our medical centers offer additional medical and surgical specialty services including audiology & speech pathology, dermatology, dental, geriatrics, neurology, oncology, podiatry, prosthetics, urology, and vision care. Some medical centers also offer advanced services such as organ transplants and plastic surgery.
