Dental Hygienist

Summary

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.

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.

• 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
• 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
• post-procedure - tobacco cessation - caries and perio-disease prevention) - behavior management - management of stable medically compromised patients (including risk factors) -…