Current Trends in Dental Sleep Medicine Symposium

Jon Nierman

President

Jon Nierman’s mission is to remove the barriers and make it easier for dental practices to implement airway and orofacial pain treatment. 

As President of Nierman Practice Management, he specializes in the development of continuing education programs, software systems, and medical billing services to facilitate dental practice growth for medically necessary services. 

Under Jon, Nierman Practice Management has provided over 5,000 hours of continuing education featuring an internationally renowned faculty. 

Jon is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology, a brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt, and a classical/jazz pianist.  

Arthur Feigenbaum

DMD

Dr. Arthur Feigenbaum is a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine and co-founder of Delta Sleep International. He is dental director both at Delta Sleep Center of Long Island and Sleep Diagnostics of New York. Dr. Feigenbaum has been a national lecturer and consultant on Dental Sleep Medicine.

He has been on the board of trustees of the Queens County Dental Society for the past 7 years and is line to be their future president. He is a committee member for the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine. A graduate of Tufts University School of Dental Medicine.

Scott Craig

Scott Craig is a graduate of DePaul University’s Driehaus College of Business. He has 19 years of experience as an entrepreneur in the medical equipment, service, and supply industries. Scott has a proven record in business development, strategic planning, and relationship management to develop and grow existing companies or new start-up companies.

Scott is a passionate leader and advocate in the sleep community on a local and national level. He is a recipient of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine’s (AADSM) 2014 Clinical Research Award. He is also a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Illinois Sleep Society. Scott has served as CEO of Midwest Dental Sleep Center (MDSC) since 2007.

Under his leadership, MDSC has become one of the largest and most respected dental sleep medicine clinics in the country. The center is AADSM accredited and has five diplomates of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine with five locations serving the Chicago-land area. MDSC is one of a handful of multi-center clinics in the world focused exclusively on providing Dental Sleep Medicine services to patients suffering from sleep-related breathing disorders.

Michael Gelb

DDS

Dr. Michael Gelb, DDS, MS is a world-renowned TMJ and Sleep Specialist with practices in both New York City and White Plains. He received his D.D.S. degree from Columbia University College of Dental Medicine and his M.S. from SUNY at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine. Dr. Gelb is the co-author of GASP: Airway Health- The Hidden Path to Wellness, and the co-founder of both The Foundation for Airway Health and The American Academy of Physiological Medicine and Dentistry.

The Gelb Center was founded over 30 years ago by Dr. Michael Gelb’s father, Dr. Harold Gelb. Since then, Dr. Michael has taken his father’s findings to the next level through his Airway Centric® integrated therapy. He invented the ACG™ Airway Centric® System with the help of ProSomnus Sleep Technologies. The ACG System is the first day and night dental appliance solution that offers an integrated approach to addressing airway issues. Dr. Michael Gelb is dedicated to improving his patients’ health by reducing pain, restoring refreshing sleep and transforming lives.

Jonathan Lown

MD

Dr. Jonathan Lown is a highly-regarded physician board certified in the areas of Sleep, Internal Medicine, and Lipidology and is a Diplomate of Sleep and Internal Medicine -ABIM. He is the Clinical Director of Delta Sleep Center of Long Island, and Co-founder of Delta Sleep International, established to disseminate knowledge about Sleep, worldwide. In addition, Dr. Lown is Assistant Professor of Medicine, Stony Brook University Medical School.

Doctor Lown is passionate about treating patients with sleep difficulties including Obstructive Sleep Apnea and was diagnosed with Obstructive Sleep Apnea himself in 2000, and has been a compliant CPAP user for over 17 years. He has also partnered with Sleep Dentists, to improve awareness and treatment alternatives for OSA and is an active member of both the AASM (American Academy of Sleep Medicine) and AADSM (American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine), and is a member of the AADSM education committee.

Steve Carstensen

DDS

After Dr. Carstensen graduated from Baylor College of Dentistry in 1983, he started a private practice of general dentistry in Texas before moving to native Seattle in 1990.

In 1996 he achieved Fellowship in the Academy of General Dentists in recognition of over 3000 hours of advanced education in dentistry, with an increasing amount of time in both practice and classwork devoted to sleep medicine.  A lifelong educator himself, Dr. Steve is currently the Sleep Education Director for both Pankey Institute and Spear Education, recognized as among the finest places for dentists to further their education. As a volunteer leader for the American Dental Association, he was a Program Chairman and General Chairman for the Annual Session, the biggest educational event the Association sponsors.

He’s a Consultant to the American Dental Association for sleep-related breathing disorders and co-author of a textbook for dentists treating the disease. For the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, he’s been a Board Member, Secretary-Treasurer, and President-Elect.  In 2006 he achieved Certification by the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine.

Kent Smith

DDS

Dr. Kent Smith is a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine and American Sleep and Breathing Academy, is on the Advisory Committee of the Australasian Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, and is President of the American Sleep and Breathing Academy. In 2007, he was asked to start a sleep curriculum at the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies, and in 2012, he was the first in Texas to be awarded a Dental Sleep Medicine Facility Accreditation. In 2013, he was asked to host a weekly radio show on sleep disorders, now hosting “Pillow Talk”, heard 3 times weekly on KAAM 770 in the Dallas area. He runs two sleep practices in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and has been speaking on many topics related to sleep both nationally and internationally for the last 15 years.

Jerry Hu

DDS

Dr. Jerry Hu, DDS grew up in Soldotna, Alaska, the heart of the Kenai Peninsula. He knew he wanted to become a dentist ever since middle school, and being admitted to this vigorous program, he was able to attain both his bachelor’s and doctorate degree at age 24 from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Currently, Dr. Hu is dedicated to providing exceptional dentistry in Anchorage and Soldotna. Over the years, Dr. Hu has attained extensive training at the American Academy of Implant Dentistry, American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, International Congress of Oral Implantologists, American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, and at the prestigious Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies (LVI). He has earned many Fellowships and Masterships, and has published numerous articles with his research in cosmetic dentistry and dental sleep apnea treatment.

In 2017, he became the first full-time dentist in Alaska to earn Board certification for Dental Sleep Medicine as a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine. He also has been lecturing over the years at national conferences from Arizona to Texas, Hawaii to Seattle, and even Canada. With many published articles in dental publications pertaining to cosmetic dentistry and dental sleep medicine, Dr. Hu is also currently continuing his clinical research in those fields.

Karese Laguerre

RDH

Karese is a Registered Dental Hygienist and Myofunctional Therapist. She founded The Myo Spot, a practice aimed at amplifying oral wellness to whole body wellness. Through tele-therapy she helps clients of all ages overcome tongue ties, TMJ disorders, sleep apnea, grinding, anxiety, and various breathing, and orofacial dysfunction. Passionate about education and self-help, she published Accomplished: How to Sleep Better, Eliminate Burnout and Execute Goals. When not working with clients globally she spends time with her husband and four kids.

Mayoor Patel

DDS, MS

Dr. Mayoor Patel has taken well over 1400 hours of postgraduate education courses in the area of Sleep Medicine, Craniofacial Pain, Sleep disorders, and Orthodontics. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine (A.B.D.S.M), and lectures locally and nationally both to the Dental and Medical community in the area of Craniofacial Pain and Dental Sleep Medicine.

Mark Abramson

DDS

Dr. Mark Abramson, Consulting Associate Professor of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine and graduate of University of Maryland School of Dentistry, 1975. After graduating from dental school University of Maryland, Dr. Abramson completed a general practice residency at the Palo Alto Veterans Administration Hospital. Dr. Abramson has been in the practice of dentistry specializing in the treatment of TMJ in orofacial pain and is a diplomat in the American Board of Orofacial Pain.

Dr. Abramson has also been a leader in the field of dental sleep medicine and has developed two of the leading appliances used to treat sleep apnea, OASYS Oral/Nasal Airway System™, and OASYS Hinge. He teaches courses throughout the world on dental sleep medicine and as a diplomat in the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine. Dr. Abramson has lectured at the first meetings of the Japanese Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine in Tokyo, the European Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, and the Indian Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine.

Dr. Abramson founded Stanford University Medical Center’s Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction Clinic in 1995 and directs and teaches courses through Stanford’s Integrative Medicine Clinic, Health Improvement Program, and at Stanford School of Medicine. Dr. Abramson is a staff physician at Stanford Center for Integrative Medicine.

Dr. Abramson has presented stress management programs at the American Medical Association and University of Maryland Dental School and courses to address the crisis in physician burnout for Stanford Medical Center.

Anjoo Ely

DDS

Dr. Ely is a graduate of the University of Michigan Dental School 1997, one of the best in the country. She has been a dentist for over 20 years and has been through several post-graduate courses in different fields of dentistry since receiving her DDS degree. Dr. Ely is a Diplomate of The American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, Diplomate of the American Sleep and Breathing Academy, Member of the American Dental Association, and Member of the Michigan Dental Association.

Dr. Ely is a member of the American Academy of Orofacial Pain and also a staff member of Ascension Hospitals Group.

Her emphasis on patient comfort as well as keeping up-to-date with the latest advancements in dentistry enable her to provide her patients with the best quality of care in the field. Dr. Ely has a wide range of experience in different areas of dentistry, from cosmetic and restorative dentistry to Invisalign, and root canal treatments.

Courtney Snow

Vice President

Jonathan Lown

MD

Dr. Jonathan Lown is a highly-regarded physician board certified in the areas of Sleep, Internal Medicine, and Lipidology and is a Diplomate of Sleep and Internal Medicine -ABIM. He is the Clinical Director of Delta Sleep Center of Long Island, and Co-founder of Delta Sleep International, established to disseminate knowledge about Sleep, worldwide. In addition, Dr. Lown is Assistant Professor of Medicine, Stony Brook University Medical School.

Doctor Lown is passionate about treating patients with sleep difficulties including Obstructive Sleep Apnea and was diagnosed with Obstructive Sleep Apnea himself in 2000, and has been a compliant CPAP user for over 17 years. He has also partnered with Sleep Dentists, to improve awareness and treatment alternatives for OSA and is an active member of both the AASM (American Academy of Sleep Medicine) and AADSM (American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine), and is a member of the AADSM education committee.

Mark Murphy

DDS

Mark is an American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine Diplomate and has practiced in the Rochester area for over 35 years. He is the Lead Faculty for Clinical Education at ProSomnus Sleep Technologies, Principal of Funktional Sleep, serves on the Guest Faculty at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry, and as a Regular Presenter at the Pankey Institute.

He has served on the Boards of Directors of the Pankey Institute, National Association of Dental Laboratories, the Identalloy Council, the Foundation for Dental Laboratory Technology, St. Vincent DePaul’s Dental Center, and the Dental Advisor. He lectures internationally on Leadership, Dental Sleep Medicine, TMD, Treatment Planning, and Occlusion.