Dental Laboratory Technician

This position is located in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA}, Fayetteville VA Medical Center (VAMC), in the Dental Service. The Dental Lab Tech is to provide direct laboratory support to staff dentists & indirect patient care. The work affects the dental & medical well-being of the patient; full performance of a number of complex laboratory procedures relieves the dentist of many time-consuming tasks which are necessary in the treatment of a variety of conditions.

Qualifications:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 04/30/2026.

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 G-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. 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.

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

Individual Occupational Requirements.

Specialized Experience

• 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.

GS-9 Grade Requirements

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.
• Inspect 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
Two full years of graduate education or a master's degree meets the requirements for GS-9. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended.


Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

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/.

Physical Requirements: Eligible applicants must be physically and mentally able to perform efficiently the essential functions of the position, with or without reasonable accommodation, without hazard to themselves or others. Depending on the essential duties of a specific position, usable vision, color vision, hearing or speech may be required. however, in most cases, a specific physical condition or impairment of a specific function may be compensated for by the satisfactory use of a prosthesis or mechanical aid.

Responsibilities:

Major Duties and Responsibilities to include but not be limited to:

• 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 retention, balance, reducing tension on natural teeth and tissue, and similar problems.
• The Dental Laboratory Technician also constructs routine full and partial dentures, dental splints and obturators, model work for fixed prostheses and other laboratory products to support the treatment needs of staff dentists.
• 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, managing implant fabrication process and fabricating wrought wire clasps.
• The Dental Laboratory Technician consults with patients concerning their complaints regarding the esthetics of any present prosthesis.
• The Dental Laboratory Technician Provides recommendations, which may be accepted and incorporated, into the patient treatment plan without significant modification.
• The Dental Laboratory Technician consults in the laboratory concerning the follow-up actions with ongoing cases.
• Meets the needs of customers while supporting VA missions. Consistently communicates and treats customers (Veterans, their representatives, visitors, and all VA staff) in a courteous, tactful, and respectful manner.

Work Schedule: 4x 10 hours or 9x9 Monday- Friday TBD 40 Hours weekly.
Compressed/Flexible: Compressed Schedule Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Dental Laboratory Technician/PD024830

Salary : $61,722