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Thank you for being part of the KDA this year. What a journey!
If you have any questions or would like to submit content for the JKDA, please contact KDA Communications Coordinator, Sandra Romero-Girard, at sandra@ksdental.org.
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I would like to thank Dr. John Fales and his family for their help and generosity in allowing our membership to use their Chiefs tailgate location at Arrowhead stadium for our annual member tailgater on August 22nd. Everyone who was able to attend really enjoyed the BBQ and beverages prior to the final preseason game of the season.
On Sept. 11th-12th we had our inaugural KDA Leadership Academy Retreat at Eureka Lake. I would like to thank Dr. Jill Jenkins and Dr. Rob Dakin for their efforts to put this together over the past few years. We had a great group of young doctors in attendance who are most definitely going to be our next association leaders. I would also like to thank Rob for his hospitality as he graciously allowed us all to stay at his Eureka Lake estate.
On Aug. 14th-16th I was in Traverse City, MI to attend the Mid-States dental associations meeting with Dr. Kate Stanley, our KDA Pres.-elect, and Dr. Allen Reavis, our ADA District 12 Trustee. We had a great meeting looking at how professional associations will need to evolve in order to best represent the changing needs of our membership. We also listened to a presentation from Dr. Elizabeth “Betsy” Shapiro, Interim Executive Director for the ADA. Though there have been some recent headwinds of change at the ADA, I do think the necessary changes are being made as the association looks towards its future. I am looking forward to attending the ADA House of Delegates meeting in Washington D.C. next month.
With the help of our Executive Committee, I have enjoyed attending as many of our recent district meetings as my time allows and presenting our current KDA agenda. It’s great to see both familiar and new faces at these events. We have received great feedback and support for our upcoming legislative agenda and current happenings with the KDA.
As we look forward over the next few months, one date that stands out on my calendar is our annual Dental Day at the Capitol scheduled for Thursday, February 5th, 2026 at the Beacon Event Venue in Topeka. Our association has always been strong legislatively. This comes from our history of being a trusted advocate for the profession and for patient health. I hope you will consider attending Dental Day with me.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me as your association President if there is anything I can do to improve your membership experience.
Best Regards,
| | The KDA is proud to partner with Pathways to Oral Health to create and promote My Dental Passport, A tool that helps people with disabilities share important information with their dental team for a more successful and comfortable dental appointment. See more information below! | |
For Individuals, Families, or Caregivers:
Use the link below to find useful information about My Dental Care Passport. This includes instructions on how to use the Passport and why it might be useful for you.
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For Providers and Dental Office Teams:
Use the link below or further information about My Dental Care Passport, including why this may be of benefit to you and your office and tips on how to use it in practice.
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Outside the State of Kansas:
Please modify this document to meet the needs of your community and organization.
Ensure the following acknowledgment remains: ‘My Dental Care Passport,’ Third Edition (2025), created by the ‘Pathways to Oral Health’ team led by Oral Health Kansas.
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As another year winds down it’s natural to reflect on the past year’s accomplishments and frustrations as we look ahead to a fresh start in 2026! Let’s take a quick look back at 2025!
The Kansas Legislative Session provided it’s share of both highs and lows for the KDA! As a key stakeholder in the “Pathways to Oral Health” coalition, we were able to successfully advocate for increases in the KanCare Dental Medicaid fee reimbursements. Though the final numbers were less than requested, the increases have provided a springboard for what we hope are additional increases in dental Medicaid in 2026.
Sticking with the legislature, the KDA successfully advocated the Legislature to increase the Dental Lifeline Network Donated Dental Service program budget only to have it the increased funds vetoed by the Governor! Increasing funding in 2026 will again be a goal in 2026.
The KDA, along with substantial help from our members statewide, fought hard to keep a bill introduced by the Association of Dental Support Organizations (ADSO) to remove the 20% rule regarding satellite office ownership, bottled up in the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services. This bill will remain active during the 2026 Legislative Session and will remain a point of concern for the KDA.
The KDA also fended off concerns regarding community water fluoridation at a legislative hearing demanded by anti-fluoridationists. This is an issue we expect to see again in 2026.
Unfortunately, there were frustrations throughout the Legislative session as well! Most notably was the inability to get three dental insurance reform bills out of committee. Those bills concern dental loss ratio, tweaks to the existing virtual credit card laws, a bill to affect insurance carriers’ recoupment timeline on claims, disallows and predetermination. This is all legislation that the KDA will be pursuing in 2026.
Outside the Legislature, the KDA had plenty to rejoice in 2025! The KDA kicked off its Inaugural Leadership Academy in September with four new dentists enrolled! Designed to provide participants with leadership skills and information about the KDA/organized dentistry this program is set to grow in future years!
Other triumphs include:
- Providing our members with the state licensure requirement of 2-hours ethics CE gratis via a live Zoom webinar!
- The KDA’s rural dental scholarship and rural grant program the Kansas Initiative for New Dentists (KIND) awarded recipients with $225,000.
- Hosting the KDA’s Mix and Mingle at the UMKC Midwest Dental Conference to provide dentists an opportunity to meet and recruit perspective associates.
- Sponsoring the UMKC Pre Dental Symposium.
- Organizing the Dine and Discover Dentistry progressive dinner event.
- Hosting the annual membership KDA Tailgater at Arrowhead with the Kansas City Chiefs
Of course, there were much discussed frustrations on an internal ADA/KDA administrative level as we transitioned our membership system and dealt with changes at the ADA. Thank you for your continued support and being so understanding through these trials! Some of these issues remain, but they are being rectified.
There are other frustrations that remind us that the KDA’s mission of standing up for dentists and dentistry continues. Perhaps most notably this past year has been the ongoing concerns expressed by dentists surrounding seemingly illogical KDHE Dental Office X-Ray Inspections. The KDA, along with state representative Dr. Allen Reavis, have begun a conversation with KDHE that we hope will bring some logic to this issue. The KDA also found itself closely monitoring the use of therapy dogs by dentists in dental offices after the Kansas Dental Board threatened action against a member dentist.
Looking forward to 2026:
- The Kansas Mission of Mercy will be hosting its 25th free dental clinic at the National Guard Armory in Manhattan on January 30-31.
- The KDA’s Annual Dental Day legislative event will be held on Thursday, February 5.
- The KDA General Assembly will meet during the UMKC Midwest Dental Conference on Friday, April 24.
There will be a number of opportunities to engage with the KDA during 2026! I hope to see you along the way!
by: Kevin J. Robertson, CAE, KDA Executive Director
| | This event brings together Kansas Dentists who are seeking an associate dentist and/or a dentist to transition their practice to. We had food, drinks, and a good time. | | Our Annual KDA Tailgater took place this year on August 22. We met at the parking lot of Arrowhead stadium to watch the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Chicago Bears. A huge thanks to our friend and Past-President, Dr. John Fales, who was an immense help in both helping organize the event as well as setting up, tearing down, and bringing the tunes! 🎵 More photos can found on the KDA Facebook page. | | Dr. Sireesha Perumalla (Topeka) and her family. | | Drs. John Roberts (Wichita) and John Fales (Olathe). | | Dr. Ricky Smith and wife, Wendy (Burlington). | | Drs. Jill and Brad Jenkins (Prairie Village) and Dr. Nathan Niles and wife, Amy (Arkansas City). | | |
This has now been the 3rd Annual Dine and Discover Dentistry event that the KDA has put on with the first being in 2023. "Dine and Discover Dentistry", don't worry, that's a mouthful for us too, so we dubbed it: "3D". The 3D event invites twenty-five D3 and D4 dental students from UMKC School of Dentistry to join us as we tour three dental offices around the Johnson County in Kansas, i.e. the Kansas side of Kansas City.
The KDA rents a shuttle to pick up students and take them to each of the three locations. Each office space hosts one portion of the progressive dinner tour with the first being the stop for appetizers, the second, the main course, and last, the dessert all paired with an accompanying wine or spirit. Students also receive free headshots! Look at these charming, emerging dentists!
Sponsors included: Trident CPA Services (jim@tridentcpa.com), Tax Favored Benefits (connoro@tfbusa.com), Henry Schein (mark.keogh@henryschein.com), CARR Real Estate (scott.thornburg@carr.us), and last but not least, Holladay Distillery, a courtesy of Dr. Taylor Merklein (Atchison) and her family.
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A special thank you goes out to KDA Members: Drs. Stephen Huber, Kory Kirkegaard, and Andrew Taliaferro for opening up their office spaces allowing us and the dental students to tour their office and enjoy some good food together.
Students were able to experience firsthand what practice ownership entails. According to Dr. Jill Jenkins (who initiated the idea back in 2020), "students commented that corporate dental groups 'wine and dine' them often, but this was their first opportunity to have a live experience and talk with owner dentists who built their own offices in a program setting."
| | Dr. Stephen Huber (Leawood) | | ASDA and KDA Student rep, Sara Yingling-Haggard | | Bourbon cider from Holladay Distillery | | D3 Student, Lauren Conrad | | Henry Schein Rep, Mark Keogh | | Dr. Jill Jenkins (Prairie Village) | | |
The 2026 Kansas Legislature will convene on Monday, January 12th! The KDA will be working on advancing a number of issues from dental Medicaid to dental insurance reform! In addition, the KDA will be closely monitoring bills regarding the 20% rule, community water fluoridation and any proposed bills not in the best interest of the public at large.
The KDA’s Council on Dental Legislation and Board of Trustees met back in August and began the process of compiling the KDA’s 2026 Legislative Priorities. Since that time, the KDA has worked with the ADA, our lobbying team, legislative sponsors and the legislative Revisor to craft our bills within the proper language and statutory style so everything is ready to go on January 12! During the Session, the KDA will provide key Legislative Alerts via text so be sure to provide the KDA with your cell phone number to receive them! Also, follow legislative happenings and other updates by watching the KDA Video Minute every Friday!
The KDA’s 2026 Legislative Priorities as approved by the KDA Board of Trustees is as follows:
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Legislative Priorities
2026 Session
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DENTAL INSURANCE REFORM
The KDA SUPPORTS legislation designed to improve transparency of dental care and allows dentists to assist patients navigate their dental benefit plan coverages. In 2026 the KDA will pursue legislation that:
- Amend our current “opt out” of virtual credit card payments for insurance claims to “opt in” language as negotiated by the ADA in a new National Council of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) template. (Bill being drafted)
- Requires dental insurers to honor written opinions regarding covered services and limits an insurers ability to retroactively deny a dental payment which has previously been paid to 6-months.
- Prohibits an insurer from disallowing a medically necessary covered service and restricting a dentist from collecting for the covered service.
- Implements a medical (dental) loss ratio legislation (DLR) regarding that 85% of collected premium dollars that a dental insurance carrier uses for actual patient (insured) dental care. A DLR bill should contain these four basic components: (Support 2025 SB 182)
- Definitions which work to be sure dental insurers, whether stand-alone or embedded in medical plans, are included.
- Transparency which would require dental insurers to submit data to the proper state authority the components of the MLR calculation and resulting MLR percentage.
- Rebate/Refund which establishes that dental insurers are required to initiate a refund to subscribers if they fail to meet an established DLR percentage
- Rate Review and Approval by the Commissioner of Insurance
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TREATMENT TRANSPARENCY AND PATIENT PROTECTION
The KDA SUPPORTS continuation of the 20% rule. Currently, KSA 65-1435 requires the dentist owner of a dental practice to physically be in each dental practice they own at least 20% of the time dentistry is being performed in that office or clinic. This requirement ensures oversight of the dental practice by owner dentists’ who ultimately are responsible for the quality and continuity of care for patients at the satellite practices they own. (Oppose 2025 SB 31).
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KANCARE/DENTAL MEDICAID RATES
The KDA SUPPORTS ongoing efforts to increase funding for dental Medicaid to provide better dental access to special needs patients. A $4 million increase in dental Medicaid was approved by the 2025 Legislature, however, it fell short of the original $16.9m/$44.3m in all funds that was initially recommended by the House Appropriations Committee. The KDA will join others in asking for a $12 million increase in state funds in 2026.
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DONATED DENTAL SERVICE (DDS)
The KDA SUPPORTS an increase of $55,000 ($125,000 total) for the Dental Lifeline Network’s Donated Dental Services Program to support dental service for Kansans’ who cannot afford their own care who are disabled, elderly and medically at risk. This increase was approved by the 2025 legislature before it was line-item vetoed by the Governor.
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COMMUNITY WATER FLUORIDATION
The KDA SUPPORTS community water fluoridation as a scientifically proven safe and cost-effective method to reduce oral disease in Kansans … particularly lower income Kansans. Studies show that schoolchildren living in communities where water is fluoridated have, on average, 2.25 fewer cavities compared to similar children not living in fluoridated communities. By preventing tooth decay, community water fluoridation saves money, both for families and the health care system! For every $1 spent on community water fluoridation, the public saves $38 on dental expenses
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DENTAL PRACTICE OWNERSHIP
The KDA SUPPORTS ownership of dental practices by dentists who are licensed by the Kansas Dental Board as required by the Kansas Dental Practice Act.
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DENTAL THERAPISTS
The KDA OPPOSES all legislation designed to create a lesser trained non-dentist technician/therapist. The KDA believes strongly that all Kansans, regardless of location or socio-economic status, deserve the services of a fully trained and licensed dentist.
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TELEDENTISTRY
The KDA SUPPORTS Kansas Dental Board Stipulation Order 20-54 which states that the Kansas Dental Practice Act does not permit teledentistry in Kansas.
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The KDA held its first ever Leadership Academy in early September. The academy took course over a day and a half with seminars for CE credit. Participants in the leadership academy will look forward to a small ceremonial recognition during the KDA Annual Meeting.
As always, we would like to thank our host, Dr. Rob Dakin, for graciously opening up his lake house in Eureka City, Kansas which offered private boarding and ample space to take in the natural scenery.
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