Career Opportunity

Dental Aide - Department of Public Health (2202)

Recruitment: REF51811F

Published: May 31, 2025

Apply using SmartRecruiters, the City and County of San Francisco's application portal.

About:

The Department of Public Health prioritizes equitable and inclusive access to quality healthcare for its community and values the importance of diversity in its workforce. All employees at the Department of Public Health work to advance equity, inclusion, and diversity with a specific lens and focus on race, ethnicity, gender, sex, sexuality, disability, and immigration status. 

• Application Opening –Friday May 30th, 2025
• Application Deadline – Application filing will close on or after June 6th, 2024.
• Salary: $83,070-$101,010 Annually
• Appointment Type: Permanent Civil Service
• Recruitment ID: CBT-2202-H00154

The Mission of the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) is to protect and promote the health of all San Franciscans. SFDPH strives to achieve its mission through the work of multiple divisions - the San Francisco Health Network, Population Health, Behavioral Health Services, and Administration. The San Francisco Health Network is the City’s only complete system of care and has locations throughout the City, including Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center, and over 15 primary care health centers. The Population Health Division (PHD) provides core public health services for the City and County of San Francisco: health protection, health promotion, disease and injury prevention, and disaster preparedness and response. Behavioral Health Services operates in conjunction with SFHN and provides a range of mental health and substance use treatment services.

Role description

Under supervision, assists a dentist during the examination and treatment of dental patients by preparing and arranging dental instruments and equipment; assists in oral surgical procedures; makes entries on examination and treatment, records; takes and develops dental X-rays; and performs related duties as required.

Requires responsibility for: Posting and maintaining patient records of dental examinations and treatments; keeping statistics on number and type of patients requiring treatment. Nature of work requires sustained moderate physical effort and manual dexterity.

Examples of Important and Essential Duties:
According to Civil Service Commission Rule 109, the duties specified below are representative of the range of duties assigned to this job code/class and are not intended to be an inclusive list.

1. Makes appointments for patients; keeps records of patients admitted, results of examinations, dental work performed, number of patients seen.

2. Prepares and arranges dental instruments, equipment and accessories on trays ready for use; sterilizes and maintains dental instruments and equipment; keeps a sufficient amount of dental supplies available; mixes and maintains supplies of sterilizing and other solutions.

3. Provides chair-side assistance to dental providers in all phases of clinical dentistry including oral surgery, pediatrics, and other procedures.

4. Takes and develops dental X-rays; cleans and prepares X-ray machine; mounts X-ray film; mixes and maintains supplies of developing and fixing solutions.

5. Types communications, monthly and annual reports, budget requests for dental supplies and equipment; keeps office and equipment in neat, clean, and sanitary condition.

6. Provides preventative services including coronal polishing, topical fluoride application, and oral health education.

The 2202 Dental Aide performs other related duties as assigned/required.

How to qualify

EXPERIENCE: One (1) year of experience as a Dental Aide; AND

LICENSE: Possession of a current and valid Registered Dental Assistant (RDA) license

Applicants must meet the minimum qualification requirement by the final filing date unless otherwise noted. 

One-year fulltime employment is equivalent to 2,000 hours (2,000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40-hour work week).

Important Note: Please make sure it is absolutely clear in your application exactly how you meet the minimum qualifications. Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. Please be aware that any misrepresentation of this information may disqualify you from this recruitment or future job opportunities. 

What else should I know?

Selection Procedures: 
After application submission, candidates deemed qualified must complete all subsequent steps to advance in this selection process, which includes the following.

TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE EXAMINATION: (WEIGHT: 100%)
Candidates will be asked to complete a supplemental questionnaire as part of the online employment application. The Supplemental Questionnaire is designed to measure knowledge, skills and/or abilities (KSAs) in job-related areas that have been identified as critical for satisfactory performance in this position.

IMPORTANT AND ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGES, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

Requires a good knowledge of: The principles and methods of sterilizing dental equipment and supplies; the use of common dental instruments, equipment and materials; dental hygiene and prophylaxis; dental office procedure and record keeping; dental X-ray techniques; the names of teeth and surfaces of crown.

Requires skill and ability to: Take, develop, and mount dental X-rays; type and keep dental records; prepare, maintain, and clean dental instruments, equipment and accessories; deal courteously and tactfully with patients through exercise of effective chairside techniques and a pleasant personality.

Additional selection processes may be conducted by the hiring department prior to making final hiring decisions.

Certification
The certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be the Rule of the List.

Eligible List/Score Report:
Once you pass the exam, you will be placed onto an eligible list and given a score and a rank. For more information, visit https://careers.sf.gov/knowledge/process/

The duration of the eligible list resulting from this examination process will be 12 months and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.

How to apply:

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted online at careers.sf.gov.

Our e-mail communications may come from more than one department so please make sure your email is set to accept messages from all of us at this link.

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment. Please consider using a personal email address that you check regularly rather than a work or school account.

Applicants will receive a confirmation email that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

Terms of Announcement and Appeal Rights:

Applicants must be guided solely by the provisions of this announcement, including requirements, time periods and other particulars, except when superseded by federal, state or local laws, rules or regulations. [Note: The correction of clerical errors in an announcement may be posted on the Department of Human Resources website at https://careers.sf.gov/.] The terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 110.4. Such appeals must be submitted in writing to the Department of Human Resources, 1 S Van Ness Avenue, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103-5413 by close of business on the 5th business day following the issuance date of this examination announcement. Information concerning other Civil Service Commission Rules involving announcements, applications and examination policies, including applicant appeal rights, can be found on the Civil Service Commission website at http://sfgov.org/civilservice/rules.  

Additional information regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco: 

• Information about the Hiring Process 
• Conviction History 
• Employee Benefits Overview 
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Workers
• Reasonable Accommodation
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement
• Veteran's Preference | Department of Human Resources

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the analyst, Katrina Navarro at katrina.navarro@sfdph.org or (628)271-6717. 

We may use text messaging to communicate with you on the phone number provided in your application. The first message will ask you to opt in to text messaging.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.