Dean of Health School Sciences, Glenda Vardy Dell watches as student Silia Mayer  practices  – photo  250News

Prince George, B.C. – After a two year  hiatus,  the  Dental Hygiene program is back  in operation at the College of New Caledonia.

The program  was suspended for two years,  partly because the College was waiting for  Ministry of Advance education approval  for  a boost in tuition,  and partly because the program wanted to  upgrade  its  equipment.

The Dental Hygiene program is a two year program  with a pre requisite year of  sciences  classes which they must have before  entering  the  Dental Hygiene  program.

The two year  absence of the program  hasn’t hurt  enrolment, as  the  Dean of Health Sciences  says the time was well spent   both in consultation with the  Dental  community,  and in  getting the word out  to high  school students who  might be interested in the program. “We  talked to all of those students,  and we also kept a waiting list when the  program was suspended, of students who were in the  process at that point in time,  and we  contacted them individually to let them know the program  was  coming back.”

The College has invested heavily  in the program,    “We updated to digitalization” says Dean of Health Sciences Glenda Vardy Dell, “that means the systems the students work on here  for x-rays, are exactly the same as  equipment they would work on in a dental clinic where they  are going to be employed.”  That  upgrade in equipment was costly,  “To digitize one machine,  was 190  thousand  dollars,  so that’s just one piece, there were other pieces that went  with that.  Double monitors were installed in each of the  areas where  students work.”

The  intake was  increased from 16 to 18 students,   and  there are 14 students who  enrolled  this September.