Since its founding over a century ago, the ADA Forsyth Institute has fostered innovation in oral health research and clinical care. The Forsyth story started in the early 1900s with the dedication of the four Forsyth brothers, Boston-born sons of Scottish immigrants, to improving oral health.
The Forsyth Dental Infirmary for Children opened its doors in 1914 to underserved children in Boston, who lacked dental care options. A donation from James Forsyth upon his 1909 death provided initial funding, to which John and Thomas Forsyth contributed further.
Soon after the infirmary opened, surviving Forsyth brothers and Forsyth officials committed considerable resources toward scientific study of the causes of oral health ailments, in addition to simply treating dental diseases. The organization’s legacy of care, research, and technology development continues to this day.
Today, the ADA Forsyth Institute is one of the leading dental and craniofacial research institutions in the United States. ADA Forsyth consistently ranks among the top dental research institutions in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding. ADA Forsyth’s renowned scientists study the connection between oral and overall health, caries treatment and prevention, oral microbiology, and more. ADA Forsyth connects the entire oral health ecosystem in pursuit of stronger oral health technology, convening academia, industry, and dentistry leaders at dentech, an annual oral health innovation summit.
Major research advancements in oral health punctuate ADA Forsyth’s 113-year history. More than ever, ADA Forsyth is on the cutting edge of technology creating stronger patient care in oral health.
Over a Century of Innovation in Oral Health
1800s
The Forsyth Family
The Forsyth family settled in Boston in 1801. Four of William and Jane Forsyth’s sons – John, James, Thomas, and George – worked at Boston Belting Company, that produced rubber goods and transmission belts which harnessed steam power for factories and machinery during the Industrial Revolution.
By 1884, James Bennett Forsyth flourished as a prolific inventor, known as the “Father of the Rubber Industry.” Funds from his inventions would later generate initial proceeds for the Dental Infirmary.
1900s
Inspired by a Crying Child
James Forsyth heard from his hotel room a child crying from a toothache. He asked his dentist what poor people did for dental care.
“There is not a place where a child with a toothache can go without money in his hand to get relief” – Dr. Ervin Johnson, dentist of James Forsyth
Upon his death in 1909, James Forsyth donated $500,000 toward the establishment of a dental infirmary for poor children. Gifts from John and Thomas increased the total funds to $4 million.
1910-1914
The Forsyth Dental Infirmary for Children
The Forsyth Dental Infirmary for Children was incorporated in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on March 25, 1910. The founding stone was laid for the white Vermont marble building facing the Fenway, adjacent to the Museum of Fine Arts.
The Forsyth Dental Infirmary for Children opened in 1914 with Thomas Forsyth and the mayor of Boston in attendance, together with 200+ children in line for care. Dr. DeWitt Cross served as its first director. Since then, hundreds of thousands of Boston-area children have received dental treatments by Forsyth clinicians.
1915
The Dawn of a Research Journey
Forsyth Chief of Research Dr. Percy Howe explained the importance of secure investment in dental research to Thomas Forsyth during a meeting at the Hotel Touraine.
Percy Howe: “[We] must choose between making a good orphan asylum of the institution or a scientific center that would lead the world.”
Thomas Forsyth: “How much would it cost?
Percy Howe: “I don’t know.”
Thomas Forsyth: “Well, go ahead anyway.”
1916
Forsyth School of Dental Hygiene
The Forsyth School of Dental Hygiene was established just as oral health began to gain national attention. The school played a critical role in shaping the dental hygiene profession, bringing women into the dentistry workforce. It grew to become the largest dental hygiene school in New England and remains the longest continuously operating dental hygiene school in the nation.
1917 “Howe’s Solution”
Dr. Percy Howe pioneered the use of ammoniacal silver nitrate to arrest tooth decay by penetrating and hardening decayed enamel and dentin, laying the scientific foundation for modern preventive dentistry. “Howe’s Solution,” as it was known, was used to treat Forsyth Dental Infirmary patients and soldiers during and after World Wars I and II. Dr. Howe directed research at the Forsyth Dental Infirmary from 1917 to 1950 and served as the ADA’s 1928-29 President.
1920
Kennedy’s Donation
In 1920, US Ambassador to the United Kingdom Joseph P. Kennedy donated $3,700 to commemorate his two-year-old son John F. Kennedy’s recovery from scarlet fever. These funds were used to purchase a bus that brought children to the infirmary for care.
1958
Strengthening Teeth with Fluoride
Renowned fluoride researcher Dr. Finn Brudevold led the team effort to expand understanding of tooth protective mechanisms by fluoride.
1960s
Understanding Caries and Periodontal Disease
Under director John MacDonald, Forsyth investigators made strides in uncovering the key virulent factors of Streptococcus mutans that contribute to tooth decay. The research group also described bacterial pathogens associated with periodontal diseases. Ron Gibbons was awarded funding from the National Institutes of Health and Colgate to support his studies on oral bacteria with a steel anaerobic incubator.
1962
Forsyth Dental Center
Director John W. “Jack” Hein expanded Forsyth’s focus on research and pediatric care to include training, education, and delivery of dental care to adult patients. The organization changed its name to Forsyth Dental Center and continued activities in three divisions:
1. The Forsyth Institute for Research and Advanced Study of Dentistry
2. The Forsyth Dental Infirmary
3. The Forsyth School of Dental Hygiene
1970s
Developing Vaccines for Dental Caries
Forsyth scientists were the first to show that triggering an antibody in saliva to dental caries pathogens offers protection from dental disease. This approach led to the development of caries vaccine strategies.
1982
Public Health in Kuwait
Kuwaiti dentist Dr. Jawad Behbehani sought to strengthen his nation’s oral health care system, and turned to Forsyth for expertise. Forsyth researchers including Drs. Paul DePaola, Pramod “Bob” Soparkar, and Mary Tavares launched one of Kuwait’s first preventive oral health programs to address high rates of pediatric dental caries. In 1983, Forsyth supervised the inaugural program in the governorate of Al-Jahra, setting the standard for prevention in the region. By 1999, Forsyth had assumed full scientific and administrative oversight of every public oral health program in Kuwait. After over 40 years of Forsyth guidance, the programs became self-sufficient and Kuwait’s Ministry of Health fully integrated them. Today, they continue to serve over 300,000 children annually.
1985
Lion Corporation’s Gift of Cherry Trees in Boston
In celebration of Forsyth’s 75th anniversary, a generous donation by the Lion Corporation initiated the planting of 400 cherry trees along the Charles River Esplanade. This symbolic gesture of goodwill honored the enduring research and training partnership between Forsyth and Lion and created a lasting gift of cultural connection for Boston and Japan.
1990
First Oral Drug Delivery Device
Forsyth researcher Dr. Max Goodson received FDA clearance for the first local oral antibiotic delivery system to treat periodontal diseases.
1993
High School Summer STEM Program
Under the leadership of Dr. Martin Taubman, Forsyth launched its Educational Outreach Program to mentor high school student interns, one of the first high school STEM education programs in Massachusetts. The initiative continues today as the Forsyth Student Scholars program.
2003
ForsythKids
Continuing Forsyth’s legacy of providing care to underserved children, Forsyth launched its mobile dental care model, ForsythKids, in which providers delivered on-site dental examinations, oral health education, and preventive oral health services to children in the Greater Boston Area. In 2020, ForsythKids was the only mobile oral healthcare model in the U.S. to remain operational during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2008
Creation of Human Oral Microbiome Database
Decades of sequencing work by Forsyth researchers Drs. Floyd Dewhirst, Bruce Paster and Tsute (George) Chen led to the creation of the Human Oral Microbiome Database (HOMD), the first curated description of a human-associated oral microbiome.
2010
Kendall Square
Doing business as The Forsyth Institute since 1998, the organization moved from its founding home in Boston to the Cambridge Science Center building in Kendall Square, Cambridge, an area known as a locus of innovation in technology and healthcare.
2010
Periodontitis and Inflammation
Forsyth scientists Drs. Thomas Van Dyke, Hatice Hasturk, and Alpdogan Kantarci provided definitive evidence of the inflammatory pathogenesis of periodontal diseases. Their discovery paved the way for human clinical trials using specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs) to manage periodontal inflammation. For the first time, targeting inflammation was proven as an effective therapeutic strategy for periodontal disease. In 2023, the Forsyth team received the European Union CE Mark, an acknowledgement that their SPM research satisfied safety, health and environmental protection standards required for marketing in the EU.
2015
Microbial Dark Matter
Decades of research led a team of Forsyth scientists to make substantial contributions to the understanding of microbial dark matter. Among the previously uncultivable strains that they successfully cultivated was TM7, a member of the bacterial phylum that accounts for 25-50% of global bacterial diversity. The elusive group later named Saccharibacteria was found to be linked to periodontitis.
2016
Spatial Mapping of the Oral Microbiome
Researchers led by Dr. Gary Borisy and Dr. Jessica Mark Welch used a novel fluorescence imaging technique and DNA sequencing to create a high-resolution 3D map of the bacteria in dental plaque. For the first time, scientists could see where bacteria lived in relation to each other, a critical component to understanding how bacteria interact.
2023: The ADA Forsyth Institute
In a landmark integration of the ADA Science & Research Institute (ADASRI) and the Forsyth Institute, the ADA Forsyth Institute (AFI) was born. Under the leadership of Dr. Wenyuan Shi, Forsyth CEO since 2017, the newly founded institute combined Forsyth’s history of pioneering scientific discovery with the ADA’s trusted leadership in professional standards — transforming today’s breakthroughs into tomorrow’s patient care.
The new partners announced their integration at dentech, an annual event convening oral health executives, investors, and innovators. Dentech, which began in 2021, aims to accelerate innovation and launch new oral health ventures.
2025
The Future of Oral Health – Discovered Here
ADA Forsyth moved into a state-of-the-art, purpose-built facility in Somerville, Massachusetts. Led by Chief Scientific Officer/Chief Operating Officer Dr. Ben Wu, this major milestone marked a new era of growth and groundbreaking research in biology, engineering, and data science to advance oral and systemic health.
