Part III: Immune Signaling Subversion and Information Collapse

February 26, 2026

·S. Thaddeus Connelly, DDS, MD, PhD, FACS

Within the Epoch #4 framework of complexity biology, periodontal disease can be understood not simply as bacterial overgrowth, but as a breakdown in communication across an integrated host–microbe network. In health, the periodontal interface functions as a low-entropy signaling ecosystem. Cytokines, chemokines, bioelectric gradients, microbial metabolites, and immune cells exchange information continuously to maintain tissue stability. In periodontitis, that coherence collapses. Signals become distorted, amplified, suppressed, or misinterpreted.

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The complete article — figures, references, and clinical commentary — is published in The Oral Health Bulletin on LinkedIn.

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