Dental Assistant

Job Summary

This position is responsible for assisting dental providers in providing the highest quality dental care to Oyáte Health Center (OHC) patients.

Essential Functions and Professional Behavior Expectations

• Prepares patient, sterilizes and disinfects instruments, sets up instrument trays, prepares materials, and assists dentist during dental procedures including instrument exchange with the dentist; uses irrigation, suction, and retraction to keep the site of operation clear.
• Takes and records medical and dental histories, and vital signs of patient.
• Exposes dental diagnostic radiographs.
• Makes impressions for study casts and occlusal registrations for mounting study casts.
• Pours and trims study models, fabricates custom impression trays, cleans, and polishes removable appliances, and fabricates temporary restorations.
• Assists dentist in management of medical and dental emergencies.
• Instructs patients in oral hygiene and plaque control.
• Provides postoperative instructions prescribed by dentist.
• Prepares patient charts and records treatment information.
• Perform coronal polishing of teeth.
• Applies fluoride to teeth.
• Provide instructions for homecare and post-operative care as directed by dentist.
• Monitors and order supplies.
• Schedules appointments, provides administrative support, and maintains clerical records as directed.
• Must comply with federal laws and regulations as required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
• Performs related duties.

Professional Behavior

• Effectively plan, organize workload, and schedule time to meet the demands of the position.
• Work in a cooperative and professional manner with OHC and GPTCHB staff.
• Treat Great Plains tribes and collaborators with dignity and respect.
• Utilize effective verbal and written communication skills.
• Advance personal educational development by attending training sessions and seminars as appropriate.
• Exemplify excellent customer service with tribal stakeholders, health board colleagues, program partners, service recipients, visitors, and guests.
• Foster a work environment of wellness, courtesy, friendliness, helpfulness, and respect.
• Relate well and work collaboratively with coworkers and all levels of staff in a professional manner.
• Consistently demonstrate respect for and acceptance of differing capabilities, cultures, gender, age, sexual orientation and/or personalities.
• Maintain and ensure organizational privacy and confidentiality.
• Handle crisis and tolerate stress professionally.
• Be self-directed and take proactive initiative to assist others.
• Resolve issues with other departments and coworkers without direct supervision if needed.
• Exercise flexibility to alter plans/routines when situations require and continue to perform without projecting stress/frustration that would adversely affect the work environment.
• Promote an alcohol, tobacco and drug-free lifestyle.
• Embrace modes of appearance and attire that reflect a professional presence.
• Adhere to GPTCHB policies and procedures.

Knowledge Required

• Knowledge of disease prevention and basic dental techniques.
• Knowledge of various dental instruments, ultrasonic, sterilizer, radiograph equipment, etc.
• Knowledge of dental instruments.
• Knowledge of customer service principles.
• Ability to manage multiple demands of the job.
• Skill in oral communication.
• Skill in the provision of customer service.
• Skill in use of job-related equipment and tools.
• Skill in use of personal computer and a variety of job-related software applications.

Supervisory Controls

The supervisor makes assignments by defining objectives, priorities, and deadlines and assists the employee with unusual situations that do not have clear precedents.

The employee plans and carries out the successive steps and handles problems and deviations in the work assignments in accordance with instructions, policies, previous training, scope of license/certification, or accepted practices in the occupation.

Completed work is usually evaluated for technical soundness, appropriateness, and conformity to policy and requirements. The methods used in arriving at the end results are not usually reviewed in detail.

Guidelines

There are established procedures for doing the work and a number of specific guidelines are available as a resource.

The employee may be required to use judgment in locating and selecting the most appropriate guidelines, references, and procedures for application and in making minor deviations to adapt the guidelines to specific cases. The employee may also determine which of several established alternatives to use. Situations to which the existing guidelines cannot be applied or significant proposed deviations from the guidelines are referred to the supervisor.

Guidelines include GPTCHB, OHC, and department policies and procedures. These guidelines are clear and specific and require some judgment.

Complexity/Scope of Work

The work consists of related steps, processes, or methods. The decision regarding what needs to be done involves various choices that require the employee to recognize the existence of and differences among a few easily recognizable situations. Actions to be taken or responses to be made differ in such things as the source of information, the kind of transactions or entries, or other differences of a factual nature.

The work involves the execution of specific rules, regulations, or procedures and typically comprises a complete segment of an assignment or project of broader scope. The work product or service affects the accuracy, reliability, or acceptability of further processes, services, and/or patient care.

Contacts

The personal contacts are with employees within the department, office, project, or work unit, and in related or support units. The contacts are with other employees, patients and other customers, and members of the general public in very highly structured situations. The purpose of the contact and the question of with whom to deal are relatively clear.

The work involves moderate risks or discomforts that require special safety precautions, including exposure to contagious diseases. Employees may be required to use protective clothing, such as masks, gowns, coats, boots, goggles, gloves, or shields.

The purpose is to plan, coordinate, or advise on work efforts, or to resolve operating problems by influencing or motivating individuals or groups who are working toward mutual goals and who have basically cooperative attitudes.

Work Environment/Physical Demands

The work involves moderate risks or discomforts that require special safety precautions, including exposure to contagious diseases. Employees may be required to use protective clothing, such as masks, gowns, coats, boots, goggles, gloves, or shields.

The work requires some physical exertion, such as long periods of standing; walking over rough, uneven, or rocky surfaces; recurring bending, crouching, stooping, stretching, reaching, or similar activities; or recurring lifting of moderately heavy items. The work may require specific, but common, physical characteristics and abilities, such as above average agility and dexterity. The employee must be able to read, write, speak and hear.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Supervisory and Management Responsibility

This position has no formally assigned supervisory responsibility or authority. The employee is responsible only for the performance of their own assigned work. They may be asked to train new employees in the fundamentals of the jobs or to participate in cross‑training of other employees in the department, but such assignments do not include the on‑going authority to assign and review work of other employees or to recommend or take corrective action with regard to other employees' performance.

Minimum Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent, and specialized training in the field of work including college courses, certificate program, apprenticeship, etc.
• One (1) year of experience in the occupational field, sufficient to understand the major duties of the position.
• Experience as a dental assistant is preferred, however qualified candidates with no dental assistance experience may be trained on the job.
• Must work towards completion of certification through continuing education.
• Dental Assistant certificate preferred.
• Certificate for coronal polishing preferred.
• Completion of radiation safety course.
• Current BLS certification.
• Must successfully pass a criminal and background check and a pre-employment drug screen.

The GPTLHB is a tribal organization that follows tribal preference laws. Our policy is to give preference to qualified Indian/Tribal candidates over qualified non-native candidates in hiring decisions if all other qualifications are equal.

Employment is contingent upon the outcome of all required criminal background checks.