Dr. Bob Kroeger graduated from Ohio State University in 1969 with a Bachelor of Science degree and in 1973 with a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree. While at Ohio State, he participated in dental research projects in oral cancer and received the senior dental student award in oral pathology. He also accepted a summer internship at Johns Hopkins University for dental research. Upon graduation, Dr. Bob was one of four dentists selected for a general practice residency at the prestigious National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland.

He then served as a lieutenant commander on board the USS Simon Lake, a submarine tender homeported in Rota, Spain. He established private practice in Cincinnati in 1977. His special interest quickly became treatment of fearful and phobic patients. To achieve success in this field, he began to study the field of stress management. He took a course at the Institute for Personality and Ability Testing (formerly part of the University of Illinois) in Champaign, Illinois, and became certified as a stress management consultant. Professor Timothy Smith, reading of Dr. Bob's work, contacted him and, together, they obtained funding from the American Fund for Dental Health for a two-year grant to study the effectiveness of Dr. Bob's dental fear control program.

FAMILY Dr. Bob was married to Brenda for 33 years before she passed away in 2007 from complications of cancer. He takes pride in their happy family including one daughter and four sons. Kim, a psychologist at Children's Hospital, is married and specializes in treating children with autistic disorders. Robby works as a computer programmer. Jon a Miami University grad, works in management for a local company. David and Michael are finance majors at Miami University. An avid golfer, Dr. Bob plays in many tournaments in Cincinnati and Ohio. He also travels to Scotland annually in search of hidden gems in the Kingdom of Golf.

He has written three books on Scottish golf. He has also recently taken up marathon running and has run 25 marathons to date, with a goal of 100. In 2007 he ran in the Boston Marathon, although his favorite is our own Flying Pig.

PRESENTATIONS GIVEN
Dr. Bob was appointed to the faculty of the College of Dentistry, University of Kentucky, where he gave numerous seminars to dentists and dental students on the topic of treating fearful patients. He has given over 70 courses and presentations to dentists over his career. These include programs given at the prestigious Hinman Dental Meeting (Atlanta), Chicago Mid-Winter Meeting, Ohio Dental Association, Greater New York Dental Meeting, Indiana Dental Association Meeting, International Association for Dental Research (Dublin, Ireland), Glasgow (Scotland) University School of Dentistry, Kentucky Dental Association, Orlando (Florida) Dental Society, Baylor College of Dentistry, and Ohio State University College of Dentistry.

MEMBERSHIPS
For 15 years Dr. Bob was on staff at Mercy South Hospital, Fairfield, Ohio. He was also an article reviewer for The Journal of the American Dental Association and a consulting editor for Motivational Dentistry, a newsletter for dentists. Dr. Bob was division editor for the International Journal of Psychosomatics and he was a member of the both the International Association for Dental Research and the American Association for Dental Research. He was awarded a scholarship to attend the Academy of General Dentistry's Clinician Workshop in Chicago. He is a past president of the Cincinnati Hypnosis Society, a component of the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis. Currently he is a member and spokesperson for the Academy of General Dentistry as well as a member of the Cincinnati Dental Association, Ohio Dental Association and the American Dental Association.

BOOKS
Dr. Bob has written two books on dentistry and has made one audiotape.

Managing the Apprehensive Patient, a 191-page textbook, educates dentists on methods of treating phobic patients. It was a main selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club, Semantodontics. Distributed to the dental profession by Penn Well, ProCom, and Semantodontics.

How to Overcome Fear of Dentistry, a 189-page book, designed to help people understand dental fears and learn to manage them. Was distributed by Seven Hills Books. Learning the Relaxation Response is an audiotape, recorded by Dr. Bob, that demonstrates guided imagery and progressive muscle relaxation, two proven methods for deep relaxation. Was featured in Dr. Julian Whitaker's national health newsletter.

PUBLICATIONS
Dr. Bob has published over 40 articles on treatment of fearful patients and stress management. Several have been reprinted in foreign languages. This culminated in the publication of a scientific article in the well-known Journal of the American Dental Association, entitled Evaluating a Behavioral Method to Manage Dental Fear: A Two Year Study of Dental Practices. Written with Dr. Tim Smith, this article appeared in the October, 1990, issue of JADA.

Some of Dr. Bob's articles include publication in the following journals:General Dentistry:
A survey of dentists' attitudes about treating fearful patients (with T. Smith).
Three year results of a behavioral fear control program in a private dental office (with T. Smith).
Levels of fear or phobia and a formal dental fear control program.

Journal of Dental Research:
Evaluating a private dental practice behavioral fear control program (with T. Smith)

Journal of Dental Education:
The formation of an experimental treatment network for fearful dental patients (with T. Smith)

Journal of the American Analgesia Society:
The formation of a regional dental fear treatment network based upon a behavioral dental fear control program (with T. Smith).
The dental fear control program: A behavioral model to treat dental phobia.

Journal of Dental Practice Administration:
Case histories of phobic dental patients.
Marketing for the dental phobic: a neglected segment of the population.
Controlling fear.
The fight against fright: targeting fearful dental patients.

Journal of the Massachusetts Dental Society:
The dental fear control program: A behavioral model to treat dental phobia.

Journal of the Georgia Dental Association:
Motivating fearful patients to seek care: a systematic approach through internal and external marketing.

Quintessence International:
Designing the dental office for relaxation (with D.E. Stevens and S.J. Vamosi).

Journal of the Ohio Dental Association:
Stress management for the dentist and staff.
Treating fearful dental patients: general guidelines.

Pain Control in Dentistry:
A survey of dentists' attitudes about treating fearful patients (with T. Smith).

Dentistry 86 (The American Student Dental Association):
Conquering fear and phobia.

Dental Management:
The role of the staff in managing dental phobia.
A dental fear network (with T. Smith).
Marketing for fearful dental patients.

Dental Economics:
Help patients overcome dental fear.
Emergency treatment of a phobic patient.
Uncover your patients' fears.

Dental Abstracts:
Office design can ease fearful patients.

Heritage Communications:
Stress Management for Your Health, Happiness, and Improved Performance (seminar workbook).

Dental Health Adviser:
Fear Takes a Holiday (pamphlet by Whittle Communications and distributed to 30,000 dental offices by Procter and Gamble).

ProCom Publications:
Practice building through managing fearful dental patients.
The fearful individual as a new patient.
Relaxation strategies for the fearful dental patient.

Dental Teamwork (ADA publication):
Patient fear.

Abstract, IADR:
Dentists' attitudes and behavior toward fearful patients (with T. Smith).

Abstract, IADR:
Fear factors of fearful private practice patients (with T. Smith).

Anadem Publishing:
Marketing to Reluctant Dental Patients (a manual).

DR. BOB IN THE NEWS

In an effort to improve patients' dental health and to lessen the national fear of dentistry, Dr. Bob has appeared on over 40 radio talk shows throughout the U.S. and has been featured on television programs and in various magazines and newsletters. Some of the more interesting ones are listed here.

Television:

     Good Morning America: Joan Lundgren interviewed a phobic patient of Dr. Bob's. (1990)

     American Dental Association: News clip of Dr. Bob in his office, explaining dental fear control program. Released to 700 U.S. television stations.

     WKRC, Cincinnati: By George, television show. Filmed at Dr. Bob's office. Also on Medical Matters, a television news program.

     WCPO, Cincinnati: Call the Doctor, television show.

Print Media:

     Cincinnati Enquirer - Afraid of the Dentist?, full-length article (1985) by Sue MacDonald. Was reprinted by the Associated Press and in many state and regional newspapers. Dentist removes fear first, then cavity, feature article (1988) by Sue MacDonald. More dentists turn to computer X-rays, health article (1998) by Sue MacDonald.

     Bottom Line/Personal newsletter: How to get over your fear of going to the dentist.

     American Dental Association News: Dental Phobia: new hope for the anxious? Front page story featuring Dr. Bob's fear control program.

     Journal of the American Dental Association: Dental Phobia: conquering fear with trust. Five page article by Dan McCann, featuring Dr. Bob and his fear reduction therapy.

     Ohio Dental Journal: Feature article about Dr. Bob and his two books by Becky McDonald.

     Prevention Magazine: Interviewed for article on dental fear, 1988.

     American Health Magazine: Interviewed for article on dental fear, l989.

     Suburban Press, Cincinnati: Program outlined for relieving dental anxiety. Series of three articles.

     Ohio Magazine: Fear strikes out. Feature story in Ohioans section by Trudy Krisher.

     Columbus Dispatch: Accent section, feature article.

     First (a national women's magazine): Featured in an article by Nancy Monson.

Radio

Dr. Bob appeared on various talk shows on the following stations: Cincinnati (WXVU, WLW, WBLZ, WCKY, WUBE, WKRQ, WKRC), Dayton (WHIO, WJHM), Los Angeles (WSKS, Money Radio (syndicated), KWNK, KORG), New York (WHEN, WFAS, WWSC, WSUR), Seattle (WING, KCIS), California (KVEN, WFIA, KNBR), and on other stations in Indiana, New Jersey, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma, Vermont, Iowa, Maine, New Mexico, Missouri, Idaho, and Colorado.

HONORS
    Ohioana Library Association: annual reception for recognition of authors.
    University of Kentucky Honors Day: exhibition of faculty and student publications.

CONTINUING EDUCATION
Dr. Bob has taken thousands of hours of continuing education in dentistry, beginning with a full post graduate year at the National Naval Medical Center where he rotated through complete and removable dentures, fixed prosthodontics (crowns, bridges), endodontics (root canals), periodontics (gum disease therapy), oral surgery, anesthesiology, operative (fillings, bonding), and emergency dentistry. He has taken the Peter Dawson series of three day courses in Florida and has heard many excellent speakers on all aspects of dentistry at various dental meetings such as the Hinman (Atlanta), Greater New York, Chicago, and the annual session of both the Ohio Dental Association and the American Dental Association.

Currently he attends about 40 hours of post-grad educational courses each year, many being offered in Cincinnati through an excellent program developed by the Cincinnati Dental Society. Dr. Bob's goal is to stay current with state-of-the-art techniques and equipment.

VOLUNTEERING IN THE COMMUNITY

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