Dental Assistant​/RDA - Wyoming Community Health Center

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Job Description

Summary:

The Dental Assistant provides essential support in performing chair-side four-handed dentistry to ensure quality care and treatment for patients. This position involves assisting the dentist with patient procedures, preparing treatment areas, sterilizing instruments, and maintaining a safe, aseptic environment. The Dental Assistant is also responsible for taking x-rays, preparing materials, and educating patients on oral hygiene. Adherence to organizational policies, ethical standards, and the mission is a key expectation.

Schedule is typically Monday
-Friday between 8am and 6:30pm, with a Saturday rotation from 9am to 12pm. Travel to other Cherry Health sites may be required.

• Prepare operatory rooms and instruments for dental procedures.
• Assist the dentist during exams, fillings, extractions, crowns, and other procedures.
• Take and process dental radiographs (X-rays).
• Ensure strict compliance with sterilization and infection control guidelines.
• Adhere to PPE and safety protocols at all times.
• Comfort and educate patients before, during, and after treatment.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date patient records.
• Provide oral hygiene and post‑op instructions to patients.
• Support front desk operations as needed, including scheduling and confirming appointments.
• Taking and recording patient vital signs as needed. i.e Blood Pressure, Glucose.
• May be required to translate other languages if applicable.
• Other duties as assigned.

• Place and carve amalgam restorations.
• Place and finish composite restorations.
• Perform coronal polishing.
• Take final impressions for fixed and removable appliances.
• Apply pit and fissure sealants.
• Place temporary crowns and bridges.
• Place bases and liners.
• Use matrix bands and wedges.
• Take preliminary impressions for diagnostic models.
• Applying sealants and fluoride.
• Remove excess cement from supragingival surfaces.
• Polish teeth before a procedure that requires acid etching.
• Replace existing temporary restorations, crowns, and bridges.
• Cement and remove temporary crowns.
• Remove sutures.
• Place, condense, and carve amalgam restorations.
• Place Class I bonded restorations, occlusal adjustment, finish, and polish with non‑tissue cutting rotary hand pieces.
• Take final impressions for indirect restorations.
• Assist and monitor of N2O (upon course completion).
• Perform pulp vitality testing.
• Place and remove matrices and wedges, rubber dams, and nor epinephrine retraction cord.
• Apply cavity liners and bases.
• Apply desensitizing agents.
• Take impressions for mouth guards and bite splints.
• Dry endodontic canals with absorbent points.

Under the direction of the Dentist and after attending all required hospital orientation, a dental assistant may assist the Dentist in dental procedures performed in a hospital operating room. Specific duties would be similar to those performed in the clinic setting.

• Basic Life Support/CPR training according to requirements of license and/or certification.
• Promotes and believes in NHSI mission statement “Health for All”.
• Ability to relate to the public regardless of ethnic, religion and economic status.
• Ability to work in a team environment.
• CSHS reserves the right to assign a different location(s) dependent upon business necessity.

• Customer Service
• Collaboration
• Integrity
• Respect
• Professionalism
• Learning

• Required (DA or RDA):
  High school diploma or equivalent.
• Graduate of an accredited dental assisting program or equivalent experience.
• Current CPR/BLS certification.
• Radiography certification (as required by Michigan law).
• Year…