Dentist fights Kansas Dental Board to keep therapy dog in office

By Krista Tatschl

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    OVERLAND PARK, Kansas (KMBC) — Dr. Kory Kirkegaard watches his 50-pound, 4-year-old standard poodle, Ivy, trot around his feet, soaking up every cuddle from his hand.

She wears a neck scarf that reads, “Therapy Dog.”

“We miss her,” he says, beginning to tear up. “Wow. I am just emotionally maxed out, I think.”

For the last year, Ivy has been allowed to stay in the Art of Dentistry office in Overland Park after hours, but not while patients are present. The Kansas Dental Board (KDB) has banned her from the office during business hours, citing unspecified sanitary concerns.

“She is bathed one to two times a week … she’s hypoallergenic … she just finds her way into a moment where it makes sense for her to be there, where a patient is maybe a little bit nervous or worked up,” Kirkegaard says. “She has been doing this here for over two years.”

The effort to keep Ivy in the office began in April 2024.

The KDB, responding to an unrelated complaint, sent a letter stating:

“Please be aware your dog or any other pets are not allowed in the dental office.”

Ivy is a certified therapy dog, and her official handler is Kirkegaard’s wife, according to documentation displayed on an office wall.

Kansas Statute 39-1113 defines a “professional therapy dog” as one that is selected, trained and tested to provide specific therapeutic functions under the control of a qualified handler. These dogs, the statute says, perform such roles in institutional settings.

Ivy meets those qualifications and passed a state compliance inspection during the KDB’s annual visit in June 2024.

The inspection report noted the office was in compliance with K.A.R. 71-1-18, the state regulation regarding infection control and patient safety.

But two months later, in August 2024, the office received another letter stating it fell below the “applicable standard of care under K.S.A. 65-1436 and K.A.R. 71-1-18.”

Kirkegaard said the conflicting messages were confusing, so he requested a meeting with the board, which occurred April 11, 2025.

Despite presenting what he described as “mountains of scientific evidence” in support of animal-assisted interventions, and letters from patients advocating for Ivy, the board voted unanimously to uphold the ban.

“It’s a very common thing throughout the country for dogs to be in a dental therapy setting,” he said. “The close-minded viewpoints and very opinion-based discussion that we had in our meeting on Friday was very frustrating and a little discouraging to hear from a board of peers.”

Ivy’s interactions with patients are entirely voluntary, Kirkegaard said.

“We always ask every patient if they’re comfortable with Ivy, and if they’re not, then she stays up front with the team.”

He said he knows of at least 20 other dental offices in Kansas that utilize therapy dogs and believes he is being unfairly singled out.

“To set a precedent like this that affects hundreds of thousands of people in the state of Kansas, I think by no means can it be established as precedent without an appropriate amount of insight and information before a decision is rendered,” he said.

Kirkegaard has retained an attorney and is working to reinstate Ivy.

KMBC contacted the Kansas Dental Board for comment but did not receive a response.

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