Dental Laboratory Technician

Dental Laboratory Technician

This position is in the Dental Clinic at the Washington DC VA Medical Center (DC VAMC). The Dental clinic provides General Dentistry as well as specialty care in Prosthodontics, Periodontics, Endodontics and Oral Surgery for eligible outpatient, inpatient, community living center (CLC) and homeless Veterans.

Duties include but not limited to: Production 40%

• Independently accomplish all aspects of fabrication for a wide range of complex dental prostheses supporting dental laboratory operations.
• The technician receives lab cases and prescriptions from dental staff and residents, confers with the treating doctor regarding design and fabrication, labels the cases, and determines the urgency of the work so that cases with the highest urgency are completed first, while creating a work plan to get the remaining cases done in a timely manner.
• The dental laboratory technician directly collaborates with Restorative Dentists, Prosthodontists, or Oral Surgeons to design and fabricate complex dental or intra-oral maxillofacial appliances. This involves (1) receiving and interpreting dental laboratory prescriptions, (2) working with these specialists in developing the design of the appliance, (3) confers with the treating specialist to determine a work flow that will ensure prioritization of cases with highest urgency, (4) personally fabricating, or overseeing the fabrication of the appliance, and (5) resolving problems in its fabrication.
• The technician is involved in complex removable and fixed oral-maxillofacial appliance including fixed, semi-fixed, or removable implant cases, partial and complete dentures when the severe nature of the dental abnormalities to be overcome require working to unusually close tolerances, resolving particularly difficult problems of esthetics, retention, balance, reducing tension on natural teeth and tissue, and similar problems. The technician must be skilled in prosthesis design, which may involve novel design elements to accommodate the patient's functional needs and unique anatomy.
• Functions include pouring primary and final impressions; fabricating custom trays; fabricating bite rims; mounting casts on articulators; setting teeth for trial dentures/partials; investing, packing, processing and finishing dentures/partials; polishing prosthesis following adjustment; fabricating night guards; fabricating provisional prostheses; repairing broken prostheses; adding teeth to prostheses; pouring and pinning final crown and bridge impressions; sectioning dies; fabricating fluoride trays; fabricating stints; fabricating transitional partials, fabricating wrought wire clasps, and fabricating fixed prostheses including metal and ceramic restorations.
• Fabricates complex crowns and fixed partial dentures, removable partial denture frameworks, acrylic partial and complete dentures. Provide consultation to Oral Surgeons, Prosthodontists, and other dental, and laboratory specialists in the design and fabrication of difficult intraoral maxillofacial appliances and restorations. This involves (1) working with dental specialists in developing the design of the appliance, (2) personally fabricating the appliance, and/or (3) resolving problems in its fabrication.

Laboratory Maintenance 30%

• The technician is responsible for maintaining the laboratory at the main hospital and at the Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs). These duties include, but are not limited to: ordering and maintaining laboratory supplies and equipment, researching new techniques and equipment, inventory and shipment of laboratory cases, act as facilitator between CDL North Texas, VAMC DC and dental community based clinics, maintenance of the infection control protocol within the laboratory, oversight of laboratory cleanliness and orderliness, etc.

Teaching/Instruction 20%

• The Dental Laboratory Technician provides education, training and instruction to other clinic personnel.
• Responsible for initial and on-going dental laboratory orientation and for year-round one-on-one and group instruction of dental residents. Teaching responsibilities include lab machine safety, equipment maintenance, use of caustic, acidic and flammable chemicals, and laboratory technique.

Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.

Work Schedule: Monday- Friday 8:00am- 4:30pm

Telework: Not Authorized

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Dental Laboratory Technician / PD688-25187-0 and PD04042A

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary/trial period
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements. Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/02/2026. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-8 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. For a GS-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-8. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade.

Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

Individual Occupational Requirements: Specialized Experience for positions at GS-4 and above: Examples of qualifying specialized experience include:

• Use of dental laboratory material such as impression materials, plasters, stones, hydrocolloids, waxes, metals, acrylics, porcelain, and similar materials.
• Use of laboratory equipment such as hand tools, dental lathes, engines, and hand pieces, furnaces, casting machines, presses, flasks, and related equipment.
• Use of precision instruments such as articulators, surveyors, and microanalyzers.
• Construction of dental prosthetic appliances.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

• GS-8 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-7 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:
• Fabricate acrylic or porcelain crowns, bridges, or facings.
• Inspects completed work for precision, workmanship, and conformity with the prescription.
• Resolve the majority of problems independently while performing a full range of functions required in the construction of (1) porcelain or acrylic fixed or semi-fixed bridge restorations, (2) full or removable partial dentures, or (3) orthodontic appliances, or dental splints and obturators, when the construction of the appliance is complicated because of the unusual nature or intricacy of the design required to overcome acute abnormalities.
• Visualize the relationships of the parts to the whole at each step in the construction process and remain constantly alert to those elements of design and construction that are essential to the fit of the finished appliance
• OR, Education - To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have One full year of graduate education.
• GS-9 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-8 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:
• Receives lab cases and prescriptions from dental staff and residents, confers with the treating doctor regarding design and fabrication, labels the cases, and determines the urgency of the work so that cases with the highest urgency are completed