Oral cancer is more prevalent than cervical cancer
FROM STAFF REPORTS Gulf Breeze News news@gulfbreezenews.com

Scott Page/Gulf Breeze News Dr. Douglas Hightower, above left, works on a patient.

Nowadays, people are looking for a lot more than basic dental care. The dental team at Great Smiles of the Emerald Coast, led by Dr. Douglas Hightower, is dedicated to helping people achieve a better quality of life by improving their health, appearance and general well being. Dr. Hightower accomplishes this by treating the causes of dental disease, rather than simply effects. A person's greatest possession is their health, and the Great Smiles team strives to serve individuals who highly value their health and appearance.

Each day, hundreds of medical discoveries are published in prestigious scientific journals; however, only a fraction of these lifesaving findings are ever made available to patients. Dr. Hightower and his team are committed to informing patients of beneficial treatments and products that are readily available to them.

The U.S. Surgeon General's report on oral health states, "The term of Oral Health and General Health should not be interpreted as a separate entities." For example, periodontal disease-a chronic inflammation that increases CReactive protein, which is a great indicator for many major diseases is present in approximately 70 percent of the American population. Why? Gum tissue is a direct portal for the entry of bacteria and pathogens into our vascular system. Consequently, periodontal greatly increases a person's risk for heart disease, stroke and respiratory disease, just to name a few.

Scott Page/Gulf Breeze News Dr. Douglas Hightower, center, poses for the camera with his staff.

In fact, The New England Journal of Medicine reports, "data suggests that C-Reactive protein is a stronger predictor of cardiovascular events than LDL cholesterol levels." The new medical standard of periodontal care demands zero tolerance for bleeding gums. Dr. Hightower measures his patients' C-Reactive protein, cholesterol and glucose levels to determine the risk for these dangerous diseases.

Dr. Hightower also provides oral cancer exams. We are all familiar with the importance of yearly "PAP" smears, which diagnose 10,000 women a year. In a surprising comparison, oral cancer is being diagnosed at 40,000 patients a year, four times the rate of cervical cancer.

The patient's comfort and security is always a focus of the staff at Great Smiles of the Emerald Coast. They are extensively trained and certified to provide several choices of sedation to ensure that each patient receives the individual care best for them and that they never have a painful experience. There are many types of light to moderate sedation; they include anxiolysis (gas) and conscious sedation (oral or I.V.). For deeper sedation, patients can have dental treatment performed by Dr. Hightower at Sacred Heart Hospital or Baptist Hospital.

This is not your routine dental office. Dr. Hightower and his team believe they are not here to do what has already been done but to apply the vast and rapid advancements in the health profession to the benefit of the patients. Their goal is to understand what the patient wants and to act as a coach to lead them to their desired level of oral health and beauty.