Category Archives: News

A group of bacteria called TM7 live in the human body by growing on the surfaces of other microbes, known as host bacteria. Ever since this arrangement was discovered, many scientists have assumed TM7 were harmful to humans, while their host bacteria were health promoting. Studies have shown higher abundance of TM7 in diseases including…

The Forsyth Institute, with its 111-year history of oral health innovation, convened key stakeholders across the oral health ecosystem at Forsyth dentech 2021 to spur innovation and investment into the $100+ billion untapped dental technology market. On Sept. 23, more than 400 inventors, investors, and leaders from 28 countries gathered virtually or personally at Forsyth’s…

Current therapies for gum disease involve cleaning pathogenic bacteria away from the root of a patient’s teeth. But the bad bacteria always return after approximately three months, necessitating long-term management of the disease and consistent maintenance. Dr. Ning Yu, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Forsyth Institute, is working on a better treatment for periodontitis.…

In a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from 41 institutions in 13 countries collaborated to reconstruct the oral microbiomes of Neanderthals, primates, and humans, including the oldest oral microbiome ever sequenced from a 100,000-year-old Neanderthal. Scientists analyzed fossilized dental plaque of humans and Neanderthals and compared it to plaque…

In a longitudinal study published earlier this month in the Journal of the American Dental Association, researchers analyzed untreated decay in a cohort of nearly 7,000 children enrolled in the ForsythKids preventive dentistry program. Over the course of six years, the percentage of children with untreated cavities in the program decreased from 39 to 19…

People with periodontitis are at higher risk of experiencing major cardiovascular events, according to new research from Forsyth Institute and Harvard University scientists and colleagues. In a longitudinal study published recently in the Journal of Periodontology, Dr. Thomas Van Dyke, Senior Member of Staff at Forsyth, Dr. Ahmed Tawakol of Massachusetts General Hospital, and their…

In diseases characterized by bone loss—such as periodontitis, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoporosis—there is a lot that scientists still don’t understand. What is the role of the immune response in the process? What happens to the regulatory mechanisms that protect bone? In a paper published recently in Scientific Reports, researchers from the Forsyth Institute and the…

The Forsyth Institute is now offering Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and comprehensive data analyses and interpretation for 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequences and other big data sequence applications through the new Forsyth Oral Microbiome Core (FOMC). Analyses of previously obtained sequences are also offered. Many investigators are familiar with the Human Oral Microbe Identification using Next Generation Sequencing…

Forsyth’s third annual Scientific Symposium, My Teeth=My Health, was held virtually via Zoom on Wednesday, October 28, 2020. If you missed the Symposium, you can watch the whole event here. View posters from the Symposium on our e-poster platform here.

When schools across Massachusetts closed in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of students lost access to dental care. The ForsythKids program responded by hosting pop-up clinics at community centers across the state. Our efforts were featured in the Boston Globe today: On Tuesday, ForsythKids ― a mobile, school-based oral health program that provides preventive care in…