Dental Hygienist

Job Details Department: Dental Clinic FTE: 0.6 (48 hours per pay period) Workdays: Wednesday, Thursday & Friday Shift(s): Days Shift Length: 8 hours Sign-On Bonus: $5,000* *Sign on bonus is available for eligible external candidates (current employees, contract/temporary workers, and former employees returning to HHS within one year are ineligible). Purpose of this position Under general supervision, performs work of moderate difficulty in performing clinical hygiene procedures. Responsibilities Performs complete prophylaxis including scaling, root planning, soft tissue curettage and polishing of fillings. Perform mechanical polishing to clinical crowns not including instrumentation. Removal of calculus by instrumentation must be done by the dentist or dental hygienist before mechanical polishing. Performs preliminary charting of the oral cavity and surrounding structures to include case histories, perform initial and periodic examinations and assessments to determine periodontal status, and formulate a dental hygiene treatment plan in coordination with the dentist’s treatment plan. Performs procedures such as dietary and salivary analysis and prepares smears. May remove and change periodontal packs. Advises patient on proper diet and dentalcare. Charts patient treatments. Counsels patient and family on dental care and treatments. Instructs patient in oral hygiene techniques. Prepares, cleans, and maintains instruments and equipment. Takes and develops x-rays; performs fluoride applications. Maintains supplies. Prepares and maintains records. Make referrals to dentists, physicians, and other practitioners in consultation with a dentist. Replacement, cementation, and adjustment of intact temporary restorations extraorally and intraorally. Re-cement intact temporary restorations and place temporary fillings (not including temporization of inlays, onlays, crowns and bridges) to provide palliative treatment. Remove excess cement from inlays, crowns, bridges and orthodontic appliances with hand instrumentation only. Apply topical medications such as, but not limited to, topical fluoride, bleaching agents, and cavity varnishes in appropriate dosages or quantities as prescribed by a dentist. Take impressions for casts and appropriate bite registration. Remove sutures. Facilitate scheduling patients for operating room procedures as needed. Arrange insurance and payment options for patients and refer patients to the proper social service avenue. Assess and monitor patient’s blood pressure and use a glucometer to test glucose levels. Triage phone encounters for patient care. Administer and monitor nitrous oxide inhalation analgesia. Administer local anesthesia. Perform oral screening/assessment and preventative services at off‑site locations as directed. Etch appropriate enamel surfaces, application and adjustment of pit and fissure sealants. Restorative Expanded Functions. Restorative procedures limited to: placing, contouring, and adjusting amalgam restorations, glass ionomers, and supragingival composite restorations (class I & V) and adapting and cementing stainless steel crowns. Other duties as assigned, but only when trained to do so. Qualifications Minimum Qualifications Graduation from a school for dental hygienists approved by Council on Dental Education of the American Dental Association. Preferred Qualifications Have collaborative Management Agreement in place. Prior experience working in a community clinic. Knowledge/ Skills/ Abilities Dental Hygienist must have completed a course on nitrous oxide inhalation analgesia. Dental Hygienist must have completed course on sealant placement. Dental Hygienist must have completed course on administration of local anesthesia. License/Certifications Possession of a valid license as a dental hygienist issued by the State of Minnesota. Basic Life Support. #J-18808-Ljbffr