Dental Assistant

Nitelines Usa•Lexington, KY

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Dental Assistant will assist the Dental Officer in various dental specialty sections, including restorative, oral surgery, periodontics, prosthetics, examinations, and triage of emergency cases. This role involves preparing patients and instruments, assisting during procedures, providing post-operative instructions, and maintaining the treatment area. The Dental Assistant will also be responsible for dental health education, charting, and utilizing the Bureau Electronic Medical Record (BEMR). A key responsibility includes teaching inmates the skills necessary to obtain a certificate in chairside dental assisting, covering basics like material preparation, instrument passing, and charting. Expanded clinical duties encompass triaging emergencies, taking radiographs, placing restorations, taking impressions, fabricating temporary crowns, and managing disinfection and sterilization procedures. Administrative duties include answering phones, managing mail, maintaining files, scheduling, inventory, ordering supplies, and compiling reports.

Requirements

Registered in the state of Kentucky or possess a letter from the Kentucky Board of Dentistry that states your training meets or exceeds Kentucky requirements.
Two years of experience providing Expanded Duties Dental Assistant services is required.
Current certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) that meets or exceeds the guidelines of the American Heart Association (AHA).
Familiar with four-handed dentistry with respect to all technical methods and procedures as practiced in this institution.
Excellent working knowledge of instruments, types of composite materials, and methods used for the purpose of making impressions.
Able to recognize the more common types of oral and tissue inflammations.
Knowledge of oral and dental anatomy and must be able to chart the anatomical findings.
Working knowledge of commonly used medication and doses for dental infections and pain as preferred by the dentist.
Skills in expanded dental functions to permit direct patient care by applying rubber dams, placing matrix bands, inserting and contouring filling materials, fabricating and cementing temporary crowns, placing surgical dressings, removing sutures, providing postoperative instructions, instructing patients on proper dental disease control techniques, and taking impressions for study casts.
Maintain knowledge of BOP safety and security regulations and maintain control of dental drugs, and instruments.
Able to identify those patients with special needs and implement appropriate courses of action to best aid their treatment and generate minimal disruption to the operation of the dental clinic.
Command of communication skills to avoid or control situations that may arise in dealing with difficult procedures and/or challenging patients.

Nice To Haves

Bilingual oral communication skills are desirable.

Responsibilities

Assists Dental Officer in dental specialty sections, such as restorative, oral surgery, periodontics, prosthetics, examinations, and triage of emergency cases.
Retrieves patient's records, escorts patient to dental treatment area, seats and prepares patient for Dental Officer, assists by preparing dental instruments, dental materials, drugs, and medications, passes instruments, retracts tissues, irrigates oral cavity, and helps to maintain a dry field.
Observe patient's responses, assist patient for dismissal, give patient post-operative instruction, and then prepare the treatment area for the next patient.
Assist in dental health education, makes necessary entries on dental treatment chart (both electronic and paper records), and records dental charting.
Use the Bureau Electronic Medical Record (BEMR).
Responsible for teaching inmates the skills necessary to obtain a certificate in chair side dental assisting. This consists of instruction in the basics of four handed dentistry (e.g., preparation of materials, passing instruments, dental charting, saliva ejection).
The dental assistant will work with the Chief Dental Officer to determine the hours that the inmates are needed each day.
Triage dental emergencies, obtains diagnostic quality intraoral and extra oral radiographs using standard and digital radiography while minimizing radiation exposure and processes and saves digital radiographs to patient's electronic and paper medical record.
Placing and removing dental packings and removing sutures.
Placing and finishing all types of dental restorations, temporary and permanent, including bases and liners.
primary impressions and pouring of casts.
Preparing, logging, and shipping of dental cases to outside dental lab.
Fabricates, adjusts, and repairs dental prosthesis and appliances under supervision.
Tooth shade selection for composites and dentures.
Placing and removing rubber dams.
Responsible for the disinfection and sterilization procedures for the dental department.
Ensures disinfection and sterilization techniques are in place (e.g., spore testing) and followed pursuant to State and Federal guidelines.
Ensures all surfaces, instruments, and dental equipment are properly disinfected and or sterilized.
Ensures routine maintenance and testing of sterilization equipment as well as documentation of said maintenance and testing as well as any corrective action.
Prepares reports for the Infection Control department.
Manages contaminated biological/hazardous waste (e.g., needles and syringes) for the dental clinic and ensures proper disposal and maintains logs associated with storage and disposal.
Answering phones, manage ingoing and outgoing mail, maintaining files, preparing treatment schedules, taking inventory, preparing purchase forms for needed supplies, stocking supplies, purging expired product, compiling reports, and other administrative duties assigned by the Chief Dental Officer.
Ensures accurate invoicing and billing from dental lab, performing oversight on MSDS for accuracy, preparing charting forms and also counts and logs needles and instruments twice daily.
Any broken instruments will be prepared for survey and disposal if needed by the Dental Assistant.
Responsible for maintenance and minor repair of all dental equipment.
Shall inspect and maintain equipment regularly as well as record all maintenance, repairs, and corrective action in logs.