Dental Laboratory Technician

Clarification from the agency

Open to Current Permanent VA Employees Only: Area of Consideration - Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order: 1. Current permanent VA employees of the facility. 2. All other VA employees.

Major Duties:

• Performs total fabrication of both fixed or semi-fixed restorations, full or removable partial dentures, orthodontic appliances and/or dental splints and obturators.
• Constructs wrought wire buccal arm clasps.
• Constructs acrylic esthetic replacements for gingival tissue removed during Perio Surgery.
• Researches the best materials for use in laboratory procedures involving implants, magnet dentures, permanent soft-liners and light cured materials.
• Designs and constructs teaching models of different prosthetic appliances.
• Waxes, invests, boils out, cures and deflasks acrylic bases for partial and complete dentures.
• Blocks out master casts, waxes complete dentures for try-in.
• Shapes wax to contours desired in the final dentures, and to the thickness required to maintain facial contours.
• Carves and contours wax to duplicate the appearance of natural oral tissues.
• Removes excess wax, smoothes and polishes surfaces.
• Reproduces dentures.
• Removes excess acrylic from dentures, grinds and selects methods to simulate contours of natural tissue.
• Polishes dentures.
• Preserves anatomical borders developed by the Dentist.
• Bends wrought wire clasps and bars.
• Tempers and shapes metal with various types of pliers into various component parts which are assembled, incased in a heat resistant investment and fused together in position with gold solder.
• Finishes, polishes, heats, treats and fits metal onto the master case.
• Submits articulated casts for partial denture framework fabrication in the Central Dental Laboratory, Dallas, Texas, and upon receipt of the cast framework, adds saddle areas with the teeth and processes partial denture as previously outlined.
• Fabricates crown, inlays and fixed partial dentures from gold alloys, porcelain or acrylic materials, alone or in combination, according to case requirements.
• Selects appropriate porcelain or acrylic facings of proper shade, size and shape.
• Articulates casts, adapts wax to die and carves patterns to proper anatomical contour and occlusion.
• Provides cutout space for veneer on facial surface where required, selects and adapts porcelain facings.
• Casts gold attachments and pieces and pontics; aligns and solder bridges; processes acrylic crowns and veneers; grinds and polish castings; avoids loss of margin adaptation.
• Constructs fixed components of implants in gold, and/or porcelain.
• Constructs and fabricates bite raisers, cleft palate obturators, fracture splints, immediate dentures, surgical template, and orthodontic appliances.
• Provides on-the-job training.
• Orders and stocks laboratory supplies.
• Performs preventive maintenance on all laboratory equipment.
• Maintains records of workload for various reporting purposes in a timely and accurate manner.
• Follows manufacturers recommendations and Reusable Medical Equipment (RME), Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) regarding Dental equipment (critical, semi critical, non-critical items).

Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Dental Laboratory Technician/PD00937A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• 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 identification 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)

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period or trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/26/2026.

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-08 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.

This position has an Individual Occupational Requirement:

Specialized Experience

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.

or

Education and Training: For GS-6 and above:

• Successful completion of a full 4-year apprenticeship program consisting of at least 2000 hours a year.
• The successful completion of training courses in dental laboratory work in the Armed Forces or other Federal agencies will be allowed appropriate credit for specialized experience on a month-for-month basis up through GS-5.
• Licensed professional dentists will be considered qualified for any grade level if they have, in the aggregate, the required experience in dental laboratory procedures.

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

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-07) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Performs total fabrication of both fixed or semi-fixed restorations, full or removable partial dentures, orthodontic appliances and/or dental splints and obturators; Constructs wrought wire buccal arm clasps; Constructs acrylic esthetic replacements for gingival tissue removed during Perio Surgery; Researches materials for use in laboratory procedures involving implants, magnet dentures, permanent soft-liners and light cured materials; Provides on-the-job training and basic dental laboratory instruction; Designs and constructs teaching models of different prosthetic appliances; Waxes, invests, boils out, cures and deflasks acrylic bases for partial and complete dentures; Blocks out master casts, waxes complete dentures for try-in; Shapes wax to contours desired in the final dentures, and to the thickness required to maintain facial contours; Carves and contours wax to duplicate the appearance of natural oral tissues; Removes excess wax, smoothes and polishes surfaces; Reproduces dentures; Removes excess acrylic from dentures, grinds and selects methods to simulate contours of natural tissue; Polishes dentures; Preserves anatomical borders developed by the Dentist; Bends wrought wire clasps and bars to conform to the case design outlined upon the surveyor's cast; Tempers and shapes metal with various types of pliers into various component parts which are assembled, incased in a heat resistant investment and fused together in position with gold solder; Finishes, polishes, heats, treats and fits metal onto the master case; Submits articulated casts for partial denture framework fabrication in the Central Dental Laboratory, Dallas, Texas, and upon receipt of the cast framework, adds saddle areas with the teeth and processes partial denture as previously outlined; Fabricates crown, inlays and fixed partial dentures from gold alloys, porcelain or acrylic materials, alone or in combination, according to case requirements; Articulates casts, adapts wax to die and carves patterns to proper anatomical contour and occlusion; Provides cutout space for veneer on facial surface where required, selects and adapts porcelain facings; Casts gold attachments and pieces and pontics; aligns and solder bridges; processes acrylic crowns and veneers; grinds and polish castings; avoiding loss of margin adaptation; Constructs fixed components of implants in gold, and/or porcelain; Constructs and fabricates bite raisers, cleft palate obturators, fracture splints, immediate dentures, surgical template, and orthodontic appliances; Orders and stocks laboratory supplies; Performs preventive maintenance on laboratory equipment; Follows manufacturers recommendations and Reusable Medical Equipment (RME), Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) regarding Dental equipment (critical, semi critical, non-critical items). OR,
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have one and a half years of graduate education (27 semester hours) (Transcript required). OR,
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and graduate level education beyond the first year (18 semester hours).

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Analytical Thinking
• Applies Technology to Tasks
• Medicine and Dentistry
• Quality Assurance
• Technical Competence

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; religions; 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.

Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. 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.

Physical Requirements: Physical activity requires bending, utilizing arms and the movement of hands and fingers in a very precise manual dexterity demands of dental technology. Lift 50#, visual acuity is also very important because of the exacting requirements of the work, especially in color discrimination.

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.

Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

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.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.

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.

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action

The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please make sure you have included other documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), documentation to support Veterans Preference claims, or ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees). You will not be contacted for additional information.

• Cover Letter
• Resume
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (if applicable for Time in Grade and/or Eligibility):

• Most recent SF-50 if you are a current or former Federal employee
• An SF-50 showing 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
• Award 50's do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade.
• Examples of appropriate SF-50's include:
  • Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or
  • Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or
  • SF-50's at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.

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