Dental Assistant 1 - Sterilization

University of Washington•Seattle, WA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The School of Dentistry has an outstanding opportunity for a Dental Assistant 1 to join their team. Reporting to Dental Clinic Supervisor, the Dental Assistant 1 is responsible for using washers and autoclaves to ensure that sterile instruments, equipment, and related resources are available in sufficient quantities for clinic operation. This position will work in a variety of different clinical settings, including Advanced General Dentistry, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery and the Center for Pediatric Dentistry on Sand Point.

Requirements

Completion of a training program for dental assistants; current certification as a dental assistant (CDA) or the ability to obtain same within six months; or six months of dental assistant experience.
Equivalent education and/or experience may substitute for minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license, certification, and/or registration.
Registration with the State of Washington as a Dental Assistant

Responsibilities

Check instruments and cassettes in and out, keeping detailed records of all assets.
Maintain and operate autoclaves and sterilization equipment; disinfect items and follow pre-sterilization and sterilization-established protocol.
Duties include scrubbing, ultrasonic operation, drying, sorting, resetting, packaging and labeling instrument setups.
Assemble dental instrument packs.
Store sterile and disinfected set-ups in preparation for delivery to clinics and providers.
Coordinate the pick-up and delivery of student and school-owned instruments.
Monitor school-owned instruments for breakage and wear; assess replacement needs.
Maintain the daily log of school-owned instruments and equipment checked in and out to students, staff and faculty on a daily basis.
Notify parties when items are missing.
Monitor and maintain hand pieces sterilization log.
Perform weekly spore testing on autoclaves and other sterilizers.
Keep all areas clean, orderly, and neat.
Provide excellent customer service to faculty, staff, and students.
Verify correct sterilization cycles.
Perform basic calculations related to verifying sterilizer functions and inventory control.
Inspect, assemble, package, label and date instruments and cassettes.
Enter inventory data using a computer terminal or a manual method.
Place orders as necessary.
Complete directly supervised sterilization training program administered by the School of Dentistry.
Check in dirty instruments, logging hand pieces in and out, filling instrument request orders and delivering instruments to clinics.
Conduct infection control protocols in compliance with OSHA & SOD infection control regulations.
Perform additional sterilization duties as assigned.