Dental Assistant (Bilingual)

Tepeyac Community Health Center • Denver, CO

3d

About The Position

Tepeyac understands that treatment of the whole person includes medical, behavioral health and dental care. All three are needed to achieve the utmost quality care and coordination for patients. Dental decay is the number one chronic disease in children that is 100% preventable —5 times more common than asthma, 4 times more common than early- childhood obesity, and 20 times more common than diabetes. Decay can affect speech and communication, eating and dietary nutrition, sleeping, learning, playing and quality of life, missed school and/or work for patients of all ages.

Requirements

• High school diploma or GED required.
• Completion of dental assistant program. May substitute for one year of the required experience.
• One or more years’ experience dental assisting preferred required.
• Oral and written fluency in English and oral fluency in Spanish required.
• X-ray certification per state requirements
• Training/understanding of tooth anatomy, tooth numbers, procedures, and procedure complications
• Flexible and adaptable. Willing to jump in where needed.
• Ability to flourish in a team-oriented care model ;strong teambuilding skills.
• Excellent communication and listening skills. Creative and positive approach to communication and problem solving.
• Organized, able to multi-task, prioritize work and stay focused in a busy clinic setting.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with individuals of diverse races, ethnicities, ages ,and sexual orientations in a multicultural environment; strong initiative and the passion to advocate and provide healthcare to the underserved.

Responsibilities

• Assist the dentist in providing routine, preventative and emergency dental care, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of patients in a clinical setting.
• Assure daily completion of dental clinic operations to include, but not limited to, scheduling, tool control, chemical control, infection control practices, biohazardous waste, hazardous materials and radiation control, and exposure regulations.
• Obtain digital x-rays
• Set up restorative procedure and place temporary restorations under dentist’s direction
• Educate patients’about preventative dental care, including making appointments and confirmation calls
• Sterilize instruments and equipment
• Dispose of medical contaminated waste
• Interpret and radiation safety and infection control guidelines and regulations to fit individual circumstances
• Monitor and maintain intra-oral x-ray machines
• Set schedule and Assist in performing preventative maintenance on dental equipment, trouble shoot and initiate work orders
• Maintain inventory levels of supplies and chemicals, prioritizing usage based on expiration dates and re-ordering as needed
• Ensure safety and security by maintaining a controlled environment for tools, chemicals, and supplies
• Maintain cleanliness of dental clinic
• Under the direction of Dental Director and Clinic Leadership the dentist, plan the workload and assist in maintaining appointment schedule to achieve maximum efficiency
• Triage urgency of dental requests for treatment, gather information, consult with dental provider and schedule appropriately
• Perform and log autoclave spore strip testing as per dental service standards
• May be required to participate in school and community outreach dental visits.
• Attend required internal meetings, trainings, and events.
• Other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Tepeyac offers a full compensation package to all full-time employees. Benefits include medical, dental and vision insurance, a flexible spending account, a 401k, disability insurance paid by Tepeyac, eight paid holidays, four weeks of vacation and over eight days of sick leave each year.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: High school or GED
• Number of Employees: 101-250 employees