For over 24 years, Brighter Way Institute (BWI), an Arizona-based non-profit organization, has been providing comprehensive oral health care to vulnerable adults, children, veterans, those experiencing homelessness, and individuals with special needs. Over two years, Thunderbirds Charities, hosts of the Waste Management Phoenix Open (WMPO) is supporting complex patient oral health care through the Phase III expansion of the Thunderbirds Institute for Implantology. This $100,000 grant will help increase complex surgical implant procedures to help an additional 340 uninsured veterans, low-income patients, and homeless individuals. This initiative is coordinated by Brighter Way Institute’s Director, Dr. Todd Erickson, DDS, MS, the only dually certified oral/maxillofacial surgeon/radiologist in the nation. The Center is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, surgical suites, and supplies secured through local, national, and international manufacturing in-kind donations.
The Diane & Bruce Halle Brighter Way Dental Center is co-located on the Phoenix Key Campus (HSC) with 16 complimentary non-profits all serving low-income and homeless adults to meet physical, mental health, employment, housing, food insecurity and other needs. BWI addresses chronic oral health disease resulting from poverty/homelessness in Maricopa County. With over 644,000 people in poverty, and 9,435 homeless (2024 point-in-time), there is a critical need to increase services and affordable access to complex oral health care in medically under-served areas, and reduce social, economic, and cultural disparities. Over 30% of the population in Maricopa County has not visited a dentist in the past year and the majority of this population has chronic and severe dental disease with limited or no oral health coverage.
Brighter Way Institute was founded by Dr. Kris Volcheck in 2001 and operated as a pilot project out of a small trailer located at Key Campus in downtown Phoenix. Today, BWI operates two population-specific dental centers and Tooth Bus, a remote Dental Center to provide comprehensive routine, restorative and reconstruction services that include dentures, implants, and a full range of conscious and unconscious sedation options for children.
Dr. Kris Volcheck, DDS, Founding CEO of Brighter Way during the naming of the Thunderbirds Charities Institute for Implantology, stated, “This gift is transformational as more of our homeless adult population and veterans will now receive the complex oral health care, they need to eliminate pain and disease and reduce disparities negatively impacting their lives. Self-confidence is renewed, and through collaborations at Key Campus, we are able to help address other social factors impacting patients’ overall well-being. For the first time in years, these individuals return to their community with their wholeness restored and a bright future in store for them. Our thanks to Thunderbirds Charities.”
Brighter Way Institute has navigated gaps in oral health care to significantly address the growing needs and health inequities among the poor and homeless in Maricopa County. To learn more about Brighter Way Institute, visit www.brighterwaydental.org.
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