Second year dental student Chelsea Lestage custom fits Prince George Cougar player Kolby Johnson – photos 250 News

Prince George, B.C. – Prince George Cougars players made their annual visit to the CNC dental clinic Tuesday afternoon.

It was there 2nd year dental students custom fitted the players with mouth guards for the coming hockey season.

Craig Hyslop, certified athletic therapist with the Prince George Cougars

“The dental students here will actually take a mold of their top jaw and then send that away and get a custom fitted mouth guard for the season,” said certified Cougars athletic therapist Craig Hyslop, who added they’re an essential part of the players equipment.

“Mouth guards are for more than just dental purposes, it’s also for concussion prevention. Player impact can cause a lot of vibration going through the skull and if you have a good mouth guard that fits properly, it’ll definitely decrease the risk of that.”

Clinic Coordinator for Dental Studies Heather Brown says it also provides valuable work experience for students.

“They learn to take impressions on people they haven’t seen before because prior to this they’ve just taken impressions on each other, so this is valuable experience.”

She adds a portion of the cost of the guards will go back to the students to help pay for community initiatives.

“Money for anything community related so for example if they’re going to visit a school of small children they would buy toothbrushes and floss for them.”