Dental Assistant (WDC)

Asian Health Services • Full-time • Oakland, California, United States • $30 - $31 / hour • 4m ago

Asian Health Services, founded in 1974, provides health, social, and advocacy services for all regardless of income, insurance status, immigration status, language, or culture. Our approach to wellbeing focuses on “whole patient health,” which is why we provide more than primary care services, including mental health, case management, nutrition, and dental care to more than 50,000 patients in English and 15 languages: Korean, Lao, Burmese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Mien, Karen, Mongolian, Karenni, Tagalog, Khmer, and Vietnamese. We offer medical, dental, and mental health services for all ages.

Job Summary: Under general supervision of the Dental Supervisor RDA-Clinic Coordinator, Dentist, or Chief Dental Officer performs all duties of a Dental Assistant including assistance to the dentist and dental hygienist during a variety of treatment procedures, and other functions as legally allowed in the state of California.

LOCATION: Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Dental & Wellness Clinic (WDC)

Essential Job Functions

Setting up
Helping patients feel comfortable before, during, and after dental treatment
Asking about or verifying when necessary a patient’s medical history and taking blood pressure and pulse
Taking and developing dental radiographs (x-rays)
Chairside assisting
Providing patients with instructions for oral care following dental treatment procedures
Teaching patients appropriate oral hygiene strategies to maintain oral health (like tooth brushing, flossing and nutritional counseling
Serving as infection control officer, developing infection control protocol and preparing and sterilizing instruments and equipment, and the patient’s area
Keeping operatories stocked and sterile
Maintaining dental equipment
Taking impressions of patients’ teeth for study casts (models of teeth).
May apply non-aerosol and non-caustic topical agents
May remove post-extraction and periodontal dressings
May place and remove elastic orthodontic separators
May hold anterior matrices
May remove sutures
May apply topical fluoride after scaling and polishing by the Dentist, Hygienist, or Dental Supervisor RDA-Clinic Coordinator
May place and remove rubber dams
Other dental or chairside duties assigned by the supervisor.
Under general supervision, an Registered Dental Assistant may perform:
Mouth mirror inspecting oral cavity to include charting of obvious lesions, existing restorations, and missing teeth
Placement and removal of temporary sedative dressings
Under direct supervision, an Registered Dental Assistant may perform the following procedures:
Obtain endodontic cultures
Dry canals previously opened by the Supervising Dentist, with absorbent points
Test pulp vitality
Place bases and liners on sound dentin
Remove excess cement from gingival surfaces of teeth with a hand instrument or fluoride
Size stainless steel crowns, temporary crowns and bands
Temporary cementations and removal of orthodontics bands
Placements of orthodontic separators
Placements and litigations of arch wires
Placement of post-extractions and periodontal dressings
Coronal polishing if certified
Removal of excess cements from coronal surfaces of teeth by means of ultrasonic scaler if certified
Observe professional and ethical standards of the job.
Follow clinic protocols.
Comply with OSHA regulations.
Comply with AHS health and safety rules and procedures.
Comply with Human Resources requirements such as attending periodic in-service training, meeting annual health exam requirement, submitting proof of CME and license renewals, etc.
Assist in providing orientation to new employees including newly-employed front desk assistants, Dental Assistants, Registered Dental Assistant, Dental Hygienist, Dentist, etc.
Be willing to assist in other tasks as requested when appropriate and time allows.
Attend regular department meetings and organization-wide staff meetings.
Promote teamwork and a positive work environment in the department.
Participates in agency-wide quality improvement program processes and performance improvement teams to ensure excellence in the quality of services provided across the agency.