€650K Study Aims to Crack the Code of Harmful Oral Biofilms

Millions in Funding for Oral Research: Freiburg Scientists Examine the Oral Microbiome in Depth

On March 30, 2026, it was announced that the German Research Foundation (DFG) is supporting a joint project between the University of Freiburg and Greifswald University Medicine with over €650,000 in funding. The three-year initiative aims to explore a critical question: What are the smallest microbial communities in the mouth required to form stable bacterial biofilms? These biofilms play a key role in diseases such as tooth decay and periodontitis.

According to Freiburg University Hospital, researchers seek to determine how these processes can be deliberately influenced. The ultimate goal is to develop new strategies for preventing and treating dental diseases.

To achieve this, the team will cultivate biofilms from human saliva in the lab, analyzing them using advanced molecular and computational methods. In addition to Freiburg and Greifswald, research partners from the United Kingdom are also involved in the project.

In the long term, the findings could help deepen our understanding of oral diseases and enable more targeted treatments.

Image: Freiburg University Hospital