Dental Assistant

Description

Heritage Health  is seeking a full-time (1.0 FTE) Dental Assistant to join our team in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. We prioritize work-life balance and offer a supportive environment to ensure our team members thrive both professionally and personally.    

Why You Should Join our Dynamic Healthcare Team 

• Passionate Purpose: We're committed to enhancing lives, every day. 
• Unmatched Support: We are committed to a fun and supportive team environment.
• Balanced Lifestyle: No weekends or holidays, ensuring a healthy work-life balance.
• Collaborative Care: Work with a dedicated team to provide the best patient outcomes in the right settings.
• Exceptional Rewards: Competitive pay, and benefits

Benefits: 

• Health Insurance: 100% employer-paid  employee coverage for medical, dental, and vision  plans  for full-time employees.
• Life Insurance: Employer-paid for 1x annual salary up to $200k (optional coverage available for additional cost). 
• Disability Insurance: Short-term disability insurance based on age & salary. 100% employer-paid long-term disability insurance.
• Retirement: 403 (b) plan: Heritage Health matches up to 4% of employee contributions. 
• Paid Time Off Benefits: 120 hours Paid Time Off (PTO) in your first year, 56 hours Extended Illness Bank (EIB) in your first year, 8 paid holidays for full-time employees, amounts are pro-rated for part-time employees who are .5 FTE or higher. 
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP): Enjoy free telehealth visits for healthcare, counseling, and health and wellness coaching for all employees and their immediate household members.                                                                                                     

Requirements

• The dental assistant must obtain certification from an accredited dental assisting program and have a desire to work in public health care.
• Experience with Dentrix and Dexis preferred, however training is provided.
• CPR certification is necessary and must be obtained within 90 days of hire.
•  One (1) year of experience is strongly preferred. 
• Certified Dental Assistant (CDA) or Registered Dental Assistant (RDA) is strongly preferred. 

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Required:

This position requires familiarity with standard concepts, practices, and procedures within a dental environment. Excellent listening and social skills are essential.

Must be able to:

• Work independently, but also within a group, contributing to the efforts of the entire team.
• Receive detailed information through oral communications; express or exchange ideas by verbal communications.
• Work with frequent interruptions and to respond appropriately to unexpected situations.
• Interact effectively with people of varied educational, socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds, skill levels and value systems.

Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Assist the dentist or dental hygienist in the administration of treatment through four-handed practices at chair side.
2. Maintains responsibility and obligation primarily to the dentist.
3. Assures all instruments, charts, and radiographs are available in the operatory prior to start of dental treatment. Applies knowledge of proper armamentarium of all procedures.
4. Passes proper instruments, at correct times, for a variety of treatment procedures.
5. Takes blood pressure and vital signs. Reviews health history with patients.
6. Provides post-operative oral care instructions to patients following surgery or other dental procedures.
7. Provides oral hygiene instructions to maximize optimal oral health and encourages patients to achieve excellent home care.
8. Assures proper asepsis techniques are followed.
9. Follows infection control protocol, properly sterilizes instruments and equipment following

OSHA guidelines.

1. Completes all weekly and monthly maintenance on operatory equipment.
2. Regular and predictable attendance is an essential function of this position.
3. Other duties as assigned.
4. Performs all functions to which he/she is certified including:
5. rubber dam placement and removal;
6. retraction cord placement and removal;
7. placing temporary restorations;
8. placing and removing matrix band and wedge;
9. pit and fissure sealants;
10. coronal polish and fluoride application;
11. suture removal;
12. administration of nitrous oxide;
13. fabrication of temporary crowns.

Safety:

Heritage Health enforces a safety culture whereby all employees have the responsibility for continuously developing and maintaining a safe working environment. Each employee is responsible for completing all training requirements, participating in emergency response tasks as requested, and serving on safety committees and teams as requested. In addition, employees must accept the responsibility for maintaining the safety of themselves and others by adhering to all written and verbal instructions, promptly reporting and/or correcting all hazards or unsafe conditions and providing feedback to supervisors and management on all safety issues.

Physical/Mental Requirements:

Required to stand, sit, and be mobile one-third to two-thirds of the time. They are required to use hands to finger, handle or feel over two-thirds of the time; while reaching with hands and arms occurs one-third of the day. Climbing or balancing, stooping, kneeling or crouching occur less than one-third of the time. Communicating by talking / hearing occurs over two-thirds of the day. Amount of time spent lifting or exerting force is about 50% for up to 10 pounds and less than one-third of the time up to 25 – 40 pounds. Rarely is there a need to lift more than 41 pounds. Must be able to manage efficient keyboard use, hear, see, speak and read.

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Ability to solve complex practical problems
• Positive interpersonal, communication & persuasion skills over the phone, computer & in person
• Must be able to simultaneously manage several objectives and assign priorities
• Deal with a wide variety of variables in situations where only limited standardization exists
• Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written or oral form
• Ability to work effectively under pressure to meet deadlines with a strong organization skill set for easy retrieval of information and to ensure competent closure of issues
• Ability to work overtime as needed, maintain alertness & meet the controlled substance policy.
• Good judgment and sound decision making and conflict management skills to inspire confidence from the customer
• Manage complex analysis and use deductive reasoning

Working Conditions:

Work is normally performed in a typical interior/office work environment in a clinic. Work may be demanding at times. Exposed to patient population that may present a variety of contagious diseases, physical injuries, and emotional states of mind.