Meet Dr. Mark Page

Clinical Focus

Within that focus, the daily clinical work divides into a few recognizable categories. Candidacy evaluations, where the job is to produce a genuine yes or no from measurements rather than from enthusiasm. Custom lens design, where a corneal map becomes a specific geometry for a specific eye. Adaptation management, where the first two weeks are guided closely because that is when a fit either settles or reveals that it needs changing. And long-term myopia monitoring, where the question stops being how the vision looks and becomes whether the eye is still growing.

• Overnight orthokeratology for myopia and, where the corneal shape allows, for regular astigmatism.
• Pediatric myopia management, including axial length baseline and scheduled remeasurement.
• Complex and previously unsuccessful fits, including patients who were fitted elsewhere and never quite stabilized.
• Candidacy assessment, including telling people plainly when a different approach suits them better.

For the treatment itself rather than the clinician, see what is Ortho-K and the Invisalens overnight system.

Why He Specialized in Orthokeratology

The honest reason is that Ortho-K rewards specialization in a way most of optometry does not. A pair of glasses is a solved problem. A soft contact lens fit is largely a matter of selecting from a well-characterized range. An Ortho-K lens is a custom device designed for one specific corneal surface, and small differences in how it is designed produce visible differences in how a patient sees at 6 in the evening two weeks later.

That gap between an adequate fit and a good one is where a specialist earns their place. It is also why volume matters. A practice performing a handful of Ortho-K fits a year is working from memory and a manufacturer guide. A practice doing this every week has seen the unusual corneal shapes, the fits that decentre, the patients who need a design revision at week three, and knows what to do without guessing.

The second reason is the myopia control side, which changed the stakes. Once you accept that a rising prescription in a child reflects permanent structural change to the eye, and that the associated lifetime risks scale with how far that change goes, an annual exam that only updates a prescription starts to look like an incomplete response. Ortho-K is one of the interventions with real evidence behind it, and doing it properly requires measuring axial length rather than trusting a refraction. That is a specialty workflow, not a general one. Read slowing progression for the underlying argument.

Approach to Patient Education

Dr. Page treats the explanation as part of the treatment. The practical test he applies is simple: can you explain your own plan to your spouse tonight without needing a brochure. If not, the explanation was not finished.

That shows up in specific habits. Your corneal map goes on the screen and gets pointed at, because a picture of your own eye communicates more in ten seconds than a paragraph does. For children, the axial length number is plotted rather than read out, so a parent sees a trend instead of hearing a reassurance. Uncertainty gets named out loud rather than smoothed over, because a patient who was told a fit might need revising at week three is not alarmed when it does.

• Show the measurement, not just the conclusion. You should see the map, the number, and where it sits relative to normal.
• Name the uncertainty. Where a result depends on how your cornea responds, that is said in advance rather than discovered later.
• Answer the question that was asked. Including the awkward ones about risk, cost, and what happens if this does not work.
• Teach the child, not only the parent. A nine year old who understands why the case has to be air dried is far more likely to do it.
• Put the plan in writing. Including the figure, before any commitment.

How a Lens Gets Designed Here

This is the part of the work that is invisible to patients, so it is worth describing. A lens design is a sequence of decisions, each of which could reasonably be made a different way, and the sequence is what a specialist accumulates judgment about.

1. 1

   Map both corneas independently

   Topography produces elevation and curvature data across the whole surface. The two eyes are rarely close enough to treat as a pair.

2. 2

   Define the treatment target

   How much correction each eye needs, and what is realistically achievable given that specific corneal shape rather than the prescription alone.

3. 3

   Design the geometry

   Base curve, treatment zone, reverse curve, alignment and peripheral zones. Each affects centration, how the tear film distributes, and how the eye feels at 8 in the evening.

4. 4

   Verify overnight, then revise

   The first night is data. Morning topography shows where the treatment actually landed. A design that lands off-centre is redesigned rather than tolerated.

The last step is the one that separates outcomes. A slightly decentred treatment zone can still produce acceptable chart vision while causing glare, halos, and vision that fades by evening. Accepting it is faster. Redesigning it is right. See custom lens design and fitting.

Working With Children and Parents

A pediatric myopia appointment has two patients in the room. The child needs to end up willing to do this every night, and the parent needs to end up understanding what the numbers mean well enough to make a decision that is genuinely theirs.

Dr. Page talks to the child directly rather than about them. Children ask better questions than adults expect, they are usually honest about whether they intend to do the cleaning, and a child who has been consulted rather than instructed complies far more reliably at week six. Parents get the harder conversation: what axial length is, why the prescription is a lagging indicator, what the evidence does and does not support, and what happens if this does not work as well as hoped.

The other thing parents get is permission to say no. Plenty of families come in, hear the explanation, and decide the timing is wrong or that a different approach fits their household better. That is a good outcome. See for parents of children with progressive myopia and Ortho-K for children.

On Telling Patients No

A candidacy evaluation that always ends in a fitting is not an evaluation. Dr. Page declines patients regularly, and the reasons are consistent and stated up front rather than discovered after a deposit.

• Corneal shape that will not support a safe, stable design. Keratoconus, significant irregularity, and previous corneal surgery.
• A prescription outside the range that can be adequately corrected. Partial correction is sometimes still right, but only with the limits stated in advance.
• Significant untreated dry eye or ocular surface disease. Treated first where possible, and sometimes a permanent no.
• A household or a patient who will not maintain hygiene. This is a safety threshold rather than a judgment.
• A patient who wants a guarantee. Nobody can promise a specific acuity, and a practice that does is not being straight with you.

When the answer is no, the visit still produces something useful: an explanation, a recommendation, and often a referral. Read realistic expectations and is Ortho-K safe.

Credentials and Licensure

We would rather leave a visible gap than publish a credential we have not verified. In the meantime, the practice is described accurately elsewhere on this page: Dr. Mark Page practices as an orthokeratologist at Better Sight Overnight, the specialty Ortho-K brand of Arizona Vision Eye Care Center, at 15215 S 48th St Ste 180 in Phoenix.

If you want to verify licensure independently before your appointment, ask us at the visit and we will provide the details directly. That is a reasonable question and it never offends anyone here.

What to Expect When You Meet Him

A first appointment runs longer than a routine eye exam, because the measurements are more involved and the conversation is the point rather than an afterthought. You should expect to see your own corneal maps, to be told plainly whether you are a candidate, and to leave with your figure in writing if you decide to move forward.

A candidacy consultation starts at $250 and is credited toward your program. A complete Ortho-K program starts at $1,800, and ongoing annual myopia control monitoring starts at $1,200. You receive your exact figure in writing before you commit to anything. See package pricing and what happens at your consultation.

Appointments are Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM at our Ahwatukee office. Call (480) 706-3937 or book online.