Dental Hygienist

This Dental Hygienist position is located the Tallahassee Outpatient Clinic. The dental hygienist is an integral member of the dental treatment team and performs a wide variety of interventions that contribute to the overall oral health of Veterans. The work requires professional knowledge in the field of dental hygiene and the biomedical sciences that relate to dentistry.

The Dental Hygienist provides services to the Veteran population enrolled in the North Florida / South Georgia Veteran Health System.

Duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to :

Clinical

• Proficiently provides procedures commonly recognized by the dental profession for safe performance by a licensed dental hygienist include the removal of all hard and soft deposits and stains from the human teeth to the depth of the gingival sulcus, polishing natural and restored surfaces of teeth, performing clinical examination of teeth and surrounding tissues for diagnosis by the dentist, and performing other such procedures as may be delegated by the dentist consistent with the Florida State Dental Practice Act.
• Complies with all Patient Safety processes : Infection control, patient identification, time-out, iMed (informed) consent, medication reconciliation, and hand-off communication.
• Follows standard operating procedures for all reusable medical equipment (RME), instruments, materials, and personal protective equipment (PPE) in use in the dental clinical areas.
• Maintains operatory standardization by ensuring all products, materials and instruments are unexpired in operatory and in storage locations throughout the clinic.
• Prepares the operatory with all needed equipment, materials and supplies for planned dental procedure(s) prior to seating the patient and cleans operatory after the patient is dismissed for timely turnover.
• Keeps patients informed of clinic delays by directly communicating with patients when treatment will not commence within 10-minutes of the patient's scheduled appointment time.
• Performs and records patient's blood pressure, pulse, and medical history; recognizes patient signs of physical distress and monitors patients' condition during treatment.
• Captures and saves diagnostic quality digital radiographs of the mouth, gums, jaws, and / or teeth both intraoral and extraoral of good diagnostic quality in traditional or digital formats within the desired time frame, for same day dental exams.
• Provides dental prophylaxis of natural teeth (including removing cement from teeth and restorations) and dental prostheses.
• Provides gross debridement, scaling and root planning, and subgingival curettage.
• Administers local anesthetic agents (in accordance with Florida and applicable licensure / training requirements and under direct supervision of dentist).
• Applies desensitizing agents, fluoride (foam, gel or varnish), anti inflammatory agents and topical anesthesia to specified areas of the oral cavity.

Administrative / Clerical

Work Schedule :

Compressed / Flexible : Not Authorized

Telework : Not Authorized

Virtual : This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement # : 50267F

Relocation / Recruitment Incentives : Not Authorized