Dental Assistant

Dental Assistant

Asian Health Services, founded in 1974, provides medical, dental, and behavioral health services to more than 50,000 patients. Our approach to well-being focuses on "whole patient health" for all. We go beyond our clinic walls and invest in our community's overall health. We know that income, housing, and environmental struggles lie at the heart of poor health. That's why we also address food insecurity, youth leadership, and culturally competent care while working towards supporting safer streets and vibrant communities.

Location: Asian Health Services - Main Dental

Job Summary:

Under direct supervision of the Dental Supervisor RDA-Clinic Coordinator, Dentist, or Chief Dental Officer performs all duties of a Dental Assistant including assistance to the dentist and dental hygienist during a variety of treatment procedures, and other functions as legally allowed in the state of California.

Note: Applicants must meet the minimum language requirements to be considered. Please review these requirements carefully before applying. Applications that do not meet these criteria will not be considered.

Essential Job Functions

• Setting up
• Helping patients feel comfortable before, during, and after dental treatment.
• Asking about or verifying when necessary a patient's medical history and taking blood pressure and pulse.
• Taking and developing dental radiographs (x-rays).
• Chairside assisting.
• Providing patients with instructions for oral care following dental treatment procedures.
• Teaching patients appropriate oral hygiene strategies to maintain oral health (like tooth brushing, flossing and nutritional counseling.
• Provides routine post-operative instructions to patients.
• Serving as infection control officer, developing infection control protocol and preparing and sterilizing instruments and equipment, and the patient's area.
• Keeping operatories stocked and sterile.
• Maintaining dental equipment.
• Taking impressions of patients' teeth for study casts (models of teeth).
• May apply non-aerosol and non-caustic topical agents.
• May remove post-extraction and periodontal dressings.
• May place and remove elastic orthodontic separators.
• May hold anterior matrices.
• May remove sutures.
• May apply topical fluoride after scaling and polishing by the Dentist, Hygienist, or Dental Supervisro RDA-Clinic Coordinator.
• May place and remove rubber dams.
• Other dental or chairside duties assigned by the supervisor.
• Mouth mirror inspecting oral cavity to include charting of obvious lesions, existing restorations, and missing teeth.
• Placement and removal of temporary sedative dressings.
• Prepare charts and records of patients and maintain patient records indicating the type of work performed.
• Observe professional and ethical standards of the job.
• Follow clinic protocols.
• Comply with OSHA regulations.
• Comply with AHS health and safety rules and procedures.
• Comply with Human Resources requirements such as attending periodic in-service training, meeting annual health exam requirement, submitting proof of CME and license renewals, etc.
• Assist in providing orientation to new employees including newly-employed front desk assistants, Dental Assistants, Registered Dental Assistant, Dental Hygienist, Dentist, etc.
• Be willing to assist in other tasks as requested when appropriate and time allows.
• Attend regular department meetings and organization-wide staff meetings.
• Promote teamwork and a positive work environment in the department.
• Participates in agency-wide quality improvement program processes and performance improvement teams to ensure excellence in the quality of services provided across the agency.

Minimum Qualifications

• Must show proof of high school diploma
• Minimum of one year paid professional dental assisting work experience
• Fluency in English and any Asian language (Cantonese, Vietnamese or Mandarin would be preferred)

Certifications, Licenses, Registrations

• Passage of Radiation Health and Safety examination
• Passage of Infection Control examination
• Valid X-Ray Certificate
• Current CPR card

$34.74 - $37.93 an hour

On-call and temporary employees does not qualify for company benefits.