Position Details

Dental Assistant

Minimum Starting Pay: $22.89/hourly

Benefits

Project HOME offers a competitive compensation package which includes health, prescription, dental, and vision coverage at minimum cost to our employees, company funded life and disability insurances, paid parental leave, spending accounts, and 401K plan with 100% matching contributions up to 5% of compensation. Additionally, we offer generous PTO accruals which includes paid sabbatical leave.

Summary: We are seeking a patient-oriented and adaptable Dental Assistant who will prepare rooms and patients for quality dental treatment by ensuring all necessary established systems and processes are followed. 

The Dental Assistant is a key member of the dental team that supports the delivery of oral health services at the Stephen Klein Wellness Center. Responsibilities include supporting dental providers during patient care, counseling patients and promoting oral health, infection prevention and exposure control, instrument reprocessing, maintaining inventory and labs, and maintenance of dental equipment and supplies.

This position is located at the Stephen Klein Wellness Center - 2144 Cecil B. Moore Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19121. 

The schedule is currently Monday-Friday 8:30a-4:30pm.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Supportive Patient Care & Education

  • Work within the full scope of a Dental Assistant in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, including preparing patient for treatment & dismissal, providing chairside assistance with materials and instruments, taking diagnostic radiographs and impressions, and completing chart documentation
  • Share information with patients on treatment plans, post-operative instructions, oral hygiene instructions, nutritional and substance use counseling

Maintain a Safe & Clean Working Environment

  • Work in compliance with all healthcare policies and standards (ex: OSHA, CDC, HIPAA, & funding body regulations)
  • Sterilize all instruments and disinfect equipment according to clinic and manufacturer’s guidelines
  • Protect patients and employees by adhering to infection-control policies and protocols
  • Ensure operation of dental equipment by completing preventive maintenance requirements; following manufacturer's instructions; troubleshooting malfunctions; requesting repairs; maintaining equipment inventories; learning new equipment and techniques

Inventory

  • Conserve dental resources by using equipment and supplies as needed
  • Ensure all lab and clinic supplies are ordered in a timely manner by utilizing the department’s tagging system and flagging in dental huddles when urgent off-cycle orders are needed
  • Verify receipt of supplies by following packing slip procedure  
  • Dispose of expired goods and broken instruments per procedure 

Lab Work 

  • Pour and trim study casts; clean and polish removable appliances; fabricate and polish temporary restorations; fabricate bite blocks, custom trays, bleaching trays, and occlusal guards
  • Maintain dental lab work area; keep cases in alphabetical order; track turnaround times for lab cases; Follow established lab workflow; Send cases to lab within 1 business day; Communicate with lab when a case is overdue and with patients for scheduling 

Quality Improvement & Assurance 

  • Participate in Quality Improvement Initiatives for Dental Department as designated to meet goals of Quality Dashboard and integration initiatives for a Patient-Centered Health Home 
  • Examples include; Sealants, Caries Risk Assessments, Self-Management Goals, HPV Vaccines, Fluoride, Tobacco Screening/Counseling, Substance Use Screening, Oral Health Promotion 
  • Participate in Quality Assurance initiatives, including review of adverse outcomes, participation in peer chart audits, and assurance of radiograph quality by maximizing diagnostics and minimizing retakes. 

Constantly strive to work as a team and achieve excellence in the day-to-day operations of Project HOME Healthcare Services

    Education and Experience Minimum Requirements:

    Minimum Requirements/Qualifications

    • Graduation from a Dental Assisting program OR 2 years of dental assisting experience
    • Current DANB Radiation & Health Safety Certification OR eligibility to obtain within first 90 days
    • Current CPR (BLS) Certification OR able to obtain within first 90 days 
    • Proficiency with computers (Microsoft Word, internet, electronic charting)

    Core Skills

    • Proficiency in restoration placement 
    • Excellent interpersonal skills to work with healthcare team in delivering care to a diverse, sometimes challenging patient population. Ability to show respect for people and their differences. Ability to stay calm under pressure. 
    • Demonstrate judgment, patience, integrity, organization, and prioritization in multi-task environment
    • Demonstrate cultural competency and take a trauma-informed and harm-reduction approach to health care 
    • Attention to detail, dependability, listening and communication skills, and flexibility

    Physical requirements

    • Ability to be positioned for long periods of time near patient and maneuver to access patient and instrumentation
    • Occasional lifting of 40-50lbs and pushing of 5-20lbs
    • A high level of manual dexterity

    Project HOME provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment, without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. Project HOME prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type.