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Float Registered Dental Hygienist - Comprehensive Care Center

Clinica Sierra Vista, Bakersfield, CA, United States


Why work for us?

Competitive pay which matches your abilities and experience

Health coverage for you and your family

Generous number of vacation days per year

A robust wellness plan and health club discounts

Continuing education assistance to grow and further your talents

403(B) plan with company matching

We’re looking for someone to join our team as a

Dental Hygienist Float

who acts as an auxiliary to the Dentist, is a licensed professional oral health educator and clinical operator who uses scientific methods for the control and prevention of oral diseases to aid patients in attaining and maintaining optimum oral health. The practice of dental hygiene includes dental hygiene assessment and development planning and implementation of a dental hygiene care plan. It also includes oral health education, counseling, and health screening.

The Dental Hygienist uses dental hygiene care to denote all integrated preventive services administered to the patient. An objective in planning dental hygiene care is to ensure the best possible sequence of procedures, which will contribute to the restoration of the patient’s oral health in the shortest possible time and pave the way to the long‑range preventive program that will continue throughout the patient’s lifetime. To achieve the goals of planned care, the Dental Hygienist must see hygiene procedures as part of the total plan for the continuity of the corrective and maintenance phases of an effective preventive dentistry program.

Essential Functions

Administer local anesthesia (under direct supervision of dentist present in facility – hygienist must have evidence of satisfactory completion of a board‑approved course to administer).

Administer nitrous analgesia (under direct supervision of dentist present in facility – hygienist must have evidence of satisfactory completion of a board‑approved course to administer).

Assess patients’ teeth, bone, and periodontal tissues indicating the presence of any abnormalities or suspected diseases or conditions.

Co‑diagnose with the dentist to develop appropriate periodontal treatment plans.

Bring to the immediate attention of the dentist any suspected lesion in the mouth or on the teeth.

Thoroughly remove soft and hard deposits and extrinsic stain from teeth, using hand instruments, ultrasonic cavitron inserts and prophy handpieces.

Instruct patients how to practice good oral hygiene; make recommendations as to appropriate products or devices for patients’ home care; and provide other health care education, as necessary.

Perform prophylaxis in the absence of periodontal disease or gingivitis.

Perform full mouth debridement, either as a first‑stage gingivitis therapy or to remove interfering calculus to further enable a more accurate diagnosis and treatment plan.

Perform root planning as a periodontal therapy.

Placement and removal of periodontal packs.

Place locally administered antibiotics as supportive periodontal therapy.

Implement irrigation and desensitizing procedures or products as adjunctive to periodontal therapy.

Ability to take digital dental x‑rays (intraoral and extraoral).

Apply cavity‑preventive agents, such as fluorides.

Bonding for pit and fissure sealants.

Removal of temporary and permanent cement.

Make recommendations as to patients’ recare interval and follow‑up needs.

All other duties and responsibilities as assigned and allowed under applicable state laws and regulations.

You’ll be successful with the following qualifications

All applicants must hold current California Dental Hygiene License.

Must hold dental x‑ray certificate.

Bilingual in English and Spanish (recommendation).

Must exhibit a desire to participate in a community oriented preventive dentistry programs.

Clinica Sierra Vista is an equal opportunity employer and strives to attract qualified applicants from all walks of life without regard to race, color, ethnicity, religion, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, military and veteran status, or any other status protected under federal, state and/or local law. We aim to create an environment that celebrates and embraces the diversity of our workforce. We welcome you to join our team!

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