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St. Barnabas Director of Dental Medicine to Speak at International Conference
Dr. Robert R. Rogers is expert in oral appliance therapy for treatment of sleep-disordered breathing

Gibsonia, Pa. (Richland Township), Sept. 19, 2005 - Robert R. Rogers, D.M.D., director of Dental Medicine at St. Barnabas Medical Center and an internationally recognized expert on oral appliance therapy for the treatment of sleep-disordered breathing, will speak at the Fifth Symposium for Dental Sleep Medicine on Oct. 15 in Berlin. His topic will be "Oral Appliance Therapy in the United States." The symposium is a joint venture between the German Society of Dental Sleep Medicine, the World Association of Sleep Medicine and the European Dental Sleep Medicine Academy.

Rogers is the founding president of the Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine and currently serves on its Board of Directors. Since his organization's founding in 1991, he has assisted the founders of similar organizations internationally, including the German Society of Dental Sleep Medicine.

Rogers works in conjunction with many Pittsburgh-area sleep centers to treat patients who suffer from sleeping conditions such as snoring and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Snoring alone is now known to be associated with health problems and is no longer considered harmless. It addition, it can also be a sign of OSA, in which the tongue and soft palate collapse onto the back of the throat and completely block the airway, restricting the flow of oxygen during sleep. OSA is linked to high blood pressure and increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Oral appliances that treat snoring and OSA are small plastic devices that are worn in the mouth, similar to orthodontic retainers or sports mouth guards.

"Speaking at this conference is really like coming full circle for me. Because it was the first of its kind, our organization in the U.S. began attracting specialists in sleep-disordered breathing throughout the world who would come to our conferences year after year," Rogers notes. "Eventually some of the specialists decided it was more practical to have academies and credentialing procedures closer to home, so the U.S. academy helped spin-off several other academies. However, as a very specialized community, we remain committed to advancing the science of treating sleep-disordered breathing with oral appliances world-wide."

Rogers holds his Doctor of Dental Medicine Degree from the University of Pittsburgh and completed his residency at Montefiore Hospital in Pittsburgh. His work is regularly published in journals on sleep medicine and he frequently speaks on sleep-disordered breathing at professional conferences. Rogers is a diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine and is the recipient of the ADSM Distinguished Service Award. In addition to the Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, his professional affiliations include membership in the American Dental Association, the Pennsylvania Dental Association, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the American Academy for Geriatric Dentistry, among others.

About St. Barnabas - St. Barnabas Health System is the largest health care concern of its kind in Pennsylvania and offers service apart from the ordinary in a faith-based, non-denominational setting. Tracing its heritage back to 1900, the system serves approximately 900 inpatients and residents, plus 35,000 outpatients and home care clients. The health system is composed of the St. Barnabas Communities, including The Village at St. Barnabas, The Washington Place at St. Barnabas and The Woodlands at St. Barnabas; St. Barnabas Clinical Services, including St. Barnabas Nursing Home, St. Barnabas Medical Center, Valencia Woods at St. Barnabas and The Arbors at St. Barnabas; the Kean Theatre; and St. Barnabas Charities, the fund-raising arm.

Contact:
Kathleen Brenneman
(724) 444-5530
kbrenneman@stbarnabashealthsystem.com