Dental Assistant

Dental Assistant Performs chairside dental assisting and radiography. Guides patients through visits and treatments, ensures charts are complete and necessary information is collected, and coordinates patient flow. Ensures infection control in operatories and with instruments. Maintains supplies. Clinical and Patient Support: Provide chairside dental assistance to predoctoral and graduate dental residents, utilizing four-handed dentistry techniques. Perform radiography as needed during chairside assisting. Welcome and guide patients, providing information on the patient's experience. Complete, scan, and enter medical histories, screening forms, and related dental, medical, and/or insurance paperwork into the database, ensuring patient charts are complete and organized. Organize and coordinate the flow of patients to maximize departmental efficiency. Assist the supervisor in effectively matching incoming patients' dental needs with students' educational requirements for treatment planning. Infection Control and Sterilization: Ensure strict infection control compliance, including monitoring student adherence to procedures. Prepare and turn over patient operatories in accordance with sterilization guidelines. Implement proper sterilization techniques for all instruments, including those supplied through IMS (monitoring instrumentation during and after patient use) and those requiring manual sterilization (wash, brush, pack, and listing instruments in kits). Maintain clinical and related areas in a healthy environment. Perform ongoing maintenance of clinic equipment (e.g., changing water filters, changing solution and cleaning automatic and hand developers). Supply, Inventory, and Laboratory Management: Manage and maintain appropriate inventory of supplies. Dispense supplies, equipment, and instruments to students. Stock cabinets with necessary supplies. Coordinate and maintain all dental laboratory functions within the department. General Department Support: Perform other duties assigned related to the operations of the department. Always maintaining the clinic in operational readiness. This entails ordering and maintaining supplies and equipment, preparing rooms for procedures, and assisting students and patients as required. Required Licenses/Certifications: Radiograph certificate strongly encouraged not required. Physical Effort: Incumbent must sit, stand, walk, bend, throughout the day. Stocking supplies and removal of biohazardous waste materials entails including carrying boxes or bags which can be heavy. Assisting/students and patients may require extensive walking or standing. The University of Pittsburgh is an equal opportunity employer / disability / veteran.