Videos

***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION***

Prosthesis Fabrication:

• Receives lab cases and prescriptions from dental staff and residents and confers with staff regarding design and fabrication;
• Determines the urgency of each case and prioritizes work to be completed in a timely manner;
• Collaborates with restorative Dentists, Prosthodontists or Oral Surgeons to design and fabricate complex dental or intraoral maxillofacial appliances;
• Involved in complex removable and fixed oral-maxillofacial appliances requiring skill in prosthesis design;
• Performs quality assurance and inspections on prostheses fabricated by outside laboratories, including prescription compliance;

Teaching/Instructing:

• Provides education, training and instruction to other clinic personnel;
• Teaches techniques include surgical stents, porcelain application, glazing, custom colorization, firing, denture fabrication, specialty splint fabrication, denture duplication, casting, etc.;
• Plans and carries out instruction for staff dentists, lower graded technicians and dental students;

Laboratory Maintenance:

• Maintains multiple dental laboratories;
• Orders and maintains laboratory supplies and equipment;
• Researches new techniques and dental laboratory equipment;
• Maintains the infection control protocol within the laboratories to include laboratory cleanliness and orderliness;

Performs other directly related duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm
Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved

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 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 (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). 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)
• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.

Qualifications

English Proficiency: In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), No person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. You must be proficient in basic written and spoken English in order to meet the requirements of this position. ~AND~

To qualify for this position all applicants must meet one of the following:

Specialized Experience: At least one (1) full year of specialized experience, equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-8) in the Federal Service, that has given me the particular knowledge, skills and abilities required to successfully perform the duties of a Dental Laboratory Technician, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Experience includes 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; and construction of dental prosthetic appliances. At this grade level, qualifying specialized experience also includes experience constructing porcelain or acrylic fixed or semi-fixed bridge restorations, full or removable partial dentures, or orthodontic appliances, or dental splints and obturators; applying a thorough technical knowledge of both normal and abnormal oral anatomy and laboratory material. NOTE: Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must clearly indicate the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position. Your experience must be fully documented in your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. ~OR~

Education: Successfully completed at least two (2) full years of graduate education or a master's degree that is directly related to the work of the Dental Laboratory Technician position. Such graduate education demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. Education must have been obtained at an accredited college or university. NOTE: Licensed professional dentists will be considered qualified for any grade level if they have, in the aggregate, the required experience in dental laboratory procedures. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. ~OR~

Combination: Equivalent combination of successfully completed graduate education (beyond the first year) and specialized experience, as described above. Education must have been obtained at an accredited college or university. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation.

You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position:

• Applies Technology to Tasks
• Teaching Others
• Technical Competence

IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary but also requires some standing, bending, lifting and carrying of items which may be light (instrumentation) or heavy (plaster and dental stone bins weighing 30 pounds, equipment). The work involves the use of two hands, with excellent eye-hand coordination. The hands and fingers must have high dexterity and strength in order to perform delicate and intricate work, and hold dental stone models, instrumentation or power equipment for many hours at a time. The technician frequently wears magnification loupes to visualize fine detail.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s).

Your responses to the assessment questionnaire will be reviewed along with the information provided in your resume and supporting documentation to determine if you are qualified for the position. If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your rating may be lowered and/or you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

Candidates who apply under All U.S. Citizens announcements will be rated and ranked using Category Rating procedures. Qualified candidates will be assigned to a quality category. The categories are defined as follows:

• Best qualified - applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are highly proficient in all requirements of the job and can perform effectively in the position;
• Highly qualified - applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the requirements of the job;
• Well qualified - applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in some, but not all, of the requirements of the job; and
• Qualified - applicants possessing experience and/or education that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors.

Application of Veterans' Preference: Category rating and selection procedures place those with veteran's preference above non-preference eligibles within each category. Preference eligible applicants that meet the eligibility and qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent are listed in the highest quality category (except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level or higher).

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.