Cambridge, Massachusetts – February 20, 2018 – Photomedics, an oral health technology company, with a corporate headquarters based out of The Forsyth Institute, a pioneer in oral health research, has developed and designed a functional, proprietary intraoral light device with proven ability to reduce the number of potentially pathogenic bacteria in the mouth that can cause gum disease, bad breath and are linked to cardiovascular disease, stroke, premature birth and low birth weight.
Conventional, antibacterial oral care treatments such as mouthwashes, disrupt the oral ecology of the mouth by indiscriminately killing all bacteria. However, the patented Photomedics BlueLight technology, floods the mouth with light of the appropriate wavelength and intensity, targeting and killing only the harmful, disease-causing bacteria. This allows the helpful bacteria to thrive and rebalances the oral microbiome. The lightweight and ergonomically designed BlueLight is activated by an intuitive bite switch with recommended use twice per day for only two minutes. The novel BlueLight device has the remarkable capability of simultaneously enhancing personal esthetics while reducing disease causing bacteria.
“Great ideas are born at Forsyth,” said Dr. Wenyuan Shi, Forsyth CEO and Chief Scientific Officer. “We are proud that our collaborative and experiential research environment fosters products like the Photomedics BlueLight, which we believe could revolutionize the way households approach their oral health habits.”
The discovery of the killing effects of blue light on certain potentially pathogenic oral bacteria in 2002 by Drs. Nikos Soukos and J. Max Goodson followed by their vision of the development of intraoral blue light technology as an adjunct to routine oral hygiene, led to the founding of Photomedics in 2017.
“When Nikos and I first discovered the effects of oral blue light we immediately recognized its importance,” said Dr. J. Max Goodson, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer. “Through numerous studies we have developed a user friendly, one-size fits all, intraoral device that can reduce pathogenic bacteria and bad breath.”
“As a pioneer in oral microbiome research, Forsyth’s faculty and facilities have helped incubate Photomedics to what it is today,” said Dr. Nikos Soukos, Founder and CEO of Photomedics. “I am thrilled to see our product come to fruition. The Photomedics BlueLight will be the catalyst in changing societal oral health habits.”
Both Dr. Soukos and Dr. Goodson have close ties to the Forsyth Institute. Dr. Soukos served as Forsyth’s Founding Director of the Applied Molecular Photomedicine Laboratory and Dr. Goodson as the Director of Clinical Research and Senior Member of Staff. The Harvard affiliated Forsyth Institute acts as co-founder and lead investor of the product which was featured at the Yankee Dental Congress in Boston, MA on January 25, 2018.
This is one of many exciting collaborative research announcements coming out of the Forsyth Institute. In 2017, the National Institutes of Health awarded a Forsyth research team a $5.4 million grant to pursue oral microbes research that has the potential to accelerate work in medicine, synthetic biology, agriculture and environmental sciences. The Institute was also part of a study which was the first to examine the three-dimensional structure of a diverse array of gut microbes and uncovers some stark differences between the microbial landscape of the gut and those of other body sites, such as the mouth.
About The Forsyth Institute
Founded in 1910, the Forsyth Institute is the only independent research organization in the United States dedicated to understanding the important connections between oral health and overall wellness. Forsyth scientists are shaping the direction of personalized medicine through pioneering biomedical research and its direct application to new diagnostics, devices and therapies. Forsyth combines its expertise in oral and associated systemic diseases with a relentless drive to ask – and answer – critical questions about how to best alleviate daily health challenges for billions. Forsyth is a not-for-profit organization that is also committed to treating underserved populations in local communities and on a national and global scale. To learn more about Forsyth, visit www.forsyth.org.
About Photomedics Inc.
Photomedics Inc. was founded to commercialize scientific breakthroughs in Dental Care pioneered at the renowned Forsyth Institute (co-founder and lead investor). The company has developed the first photomedicine intraoral BlueLight device with targeted antibacterial action based on Forsyth’s patented Photomedicine Technology. To learn more about Photomedics Inc. visit www.photomedics.com.
