Dental Assistant - Community of HOPE
Washington, DC 20032
About the Job
- We improve lives by building on families’ strengths, honoring their choices, and taking a whole-family, multi-generational approach.
- We lead and advocate for system change to address the effects of historical and current racial inequities on health outcomes and housing opportunities.
- We embrace the diversity of our community, welcome all voices and perspectives, and treat everyone with respect, compassion, and integrity.
- We strive for excellence in all that we do, implement evidence-based practices, measure our outcomes, and use this knowledge to continuously strengthen our work.
Highlighted Duties and Responsibilities:
- Provides quality four handed chair side dental assistance during restorative, endodontic, periodontic, prosthodontic, and oral surgery procedures.
- Reviews daily and records medical history, vital signs and patient consent in the dental electronic medical record.
- Serves daily as a patient advocate by ensuring that patients feel comfortable before, during and after dental treatment.
- Takes and develops dental x-rays daily and completes dental charting according to instruction given by the dentist.
- Promotes and maintains OSHA infection control standards daily.
- Performs daily dental chart review to ensure an accurate and timely workflow process.
- Ensures that the dentist has complete dental set-ups (armamentarium) prior to the initiation of dental treatment.
- Provides appropriate oral health education, including nutritional counseling, tooth-brushing and flossing techniques to patients during visits.
- Provides patients with instruction for oral care following surgery or other dental treatment.
- Performs daily sterilization of dental instruments and equipment. Maintains weekly sterilization logs per the standards and protocols.
- Performs monthly maintenance to ensure proper functioning of digital x-ray equipment and traditional x-ray processors.
- Maintains daily log of incoming and outgoing dental lab cases.
- Stocks the dental operatory, checks expiration dates of dental materials, and maintains the dental emergency kit.
- Performs office management tasks including front desk coverage, scheduling appointments, and answering phones on an as needed basis.
- Assists with the ordering of dental supplies on an as needed basis.
- Performs other duties as requested by supervisor.*
- Must have a current, unencumbered D.C. Dental Assisting License, Level II;
- Dental Assistant Diploma/Certification from an accredited program;
- BLS Certification Required
- X-ray Certification Required;
- CPR Certification Required;
- Bilingual in English and Spanish preferred.
- Commitment to work with underserved populations;
- Ability to work in non-profit environment;
- Ability to work weekends or evenings as needed required;
- Ability to travel to other COH sites as needed
- Participation in appropriate continuing dental education courses.
- All Health Staff must receive the required vaccinations. This includes annual flu and covid vaccines. Medical or religious exemptions may be requested.
At COH, we understand the toll that the Covid-19 pandemic has taken on the workforce, which is why we prioritize the following well-being and work-life balance-centered benefits:
- Remote work opportunities are available for many of our roles, promoting a culture of work-life balance.
- 8-hour workdays, which include a paid lunch
- 11.5 paid company holidays, 1 personal floating holiday, 15 days of paid vacation (increases to 20 after 3 years of service), and 12 days of paid sick leave on an annual basis
- Annual performance-based raises, up to 5% of your annual pay
- National Health Service Corps (NHSC) and DC Health Professional Loan Repayment Program (DCHPLRP) participants
- Tuition reimbursement, loan repayment for clinicians, licensing reimbursement, and continuing education unit funds for licensed staff
- Many opportunities for internal promotions and transfers across the agency as we continue to grow; we average 30+ promotions each year
- Ongoing internal leadership training for supervisors
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion training and initiatives for all staff
- Ongoing well-being activities, culture compact activities, and trauma-informed care initiatives
- Medical/Dental/Vision Plans through CareFirst BlueCross Blue Shield
- Life insurance, short-term disability, and long-term disability insurance
- 403(b) Retirement Plan
- Flexible Spending Accounts for medical and dependent care reimbursable expenses
- And much more!
About Community of HOPE:
Community of Hope is a mission-driven, innovative, and rapidly growing nonprofit. For nearly 40 years, we have provided healthcare, housing, and supportive services for low-income, underserved, and homeless people in Washington DC. As a Federally Qualified Health Center, we provide medical, dental, behavioral health, and care coordination services for the whole family at three locations in DC. Community of Hope also has a strong emphasis on maternal and child health, with a midwifery practice and the only free-standing birth center in DC. In 2020, Community of Hope provided about 28,400 medical visits, 7,000 dental visits, and 10,000 behavioral health visits for about 11,000 patients. Community of Hope is also providing community walk-in COVID testing and COVID vaccines. Community of Hope is also one of the largest providers in DC of housing and support services for families experiencing homelessness. Through providing these programs, we live out our mission to improve health and end family homelessness to make Washington, DC more equitable.