Meet Your Tennessee Lip & Tongue Tie Expert-Franklin, TN
Get to Know
Dr. Paige Prather
First and foremost, Dr. Paige Prather is a mother. She took a special interest in the subject of lip and tongue-tie because she personally struggled to breastfeed her own son, Jaxson, due to tongue-tie. As a child, Dr. Paige had five siblings, and her mother breastfed all of them. When her child was born, there was no doubt in her mind she would breastfeed with Jaxson. Unfortunately, they both struggled, and eventually, stopped breastfeeding early. Dr. Paige later discovered that a tongue-tie was the source of their struggles. This experience drove Dr. Paige to look into how tongue-ties are diagnosed and treated so she could help others with this struggle. While Dr. Paige is happy to treat lip and tongue-ties in patients of any age, she is especially passionate about treating infants and is happy to provide treatment, support, and assistance for babies and nursing mothers.
In addition to offering lip and tongue-tie services, Dr. Paige is a skilled family dentistry practitioner. She has a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from The Ohio State University School of Dentistry as well as years of training and experience to ensure the quality of the services she provides. Dental education, especially Dr. Paige’s advanced training in pediatric care, laser dentistry, and specifically lip and tongue tie diagnosis and full revision, has made her one of the go-to practitioners in Tennessee for lip and tongue-tie procedures. Dr. Paige has superior knowledge of how the oral and facial anatomy works together to allow patients to speak, chew, smile, and very importantly, breastfeed. This places her at an advantage when it comes to providing high-quality care for patients at any age in need of treatment for lip and tongue-tie.
Why Did You Decide to Specialize in Lip & Tongue Tie Treatment?
Following her experience with her own son, Dr. Paige made a startling discovery. There’s no real in-school training specifically for pediatric dentistry specialists or pediatricians when it comes to lip and tongue-tie. Instead, she found other people just like her who didn’t know all the ways this common oral health condition could negatively impact their lives. That’s when Dr. Paige started to seek out advanced training.
Her goal was to provide a different kind of experience for patients struggling with lip and tongue-tie, especially for infants. It was her goal to be able to confidently assess for lip and tongue ties so that she could provide more predictable care and see more success in resolving breastfeeding issues. There are many things that can lead to problems breastfeeding, and Dr. Paige has learned about much more than just the oral tie aspect so that she can help make parents aware of other possible issues that they may need to seek help for.
Where Did You Study Lip & Tongue Tie Treatment?
Dr. Paige has completed numerous advanced education courses and trainings that make her a trusted provider for parents, children, and adults dealing with lip and tongue-ties. Some of Dr. Paige’s professional affiliations and completed trainings include:
- Tufts University continuing education course on the diagnosis and laser revision of lip and tongue-ties
- Membership in the International Affiliation of Tongue-Tie Providers (IATP)
- Trained under the late Dr. Fred Margolis, one of the pioneers in lip and tongue-tie laser revision
- Studied the lip and tongue-tie methods of Dr. Bobby Ghaheri and Dr. Larry Kotlow
- The Tongue-Tie Facebook Support Group -- Dr. Paige was approved through a screening process to become a preferred provider
- Directs local training events for peers on proper assessment and treatment of lip and tongue-ties in infants
- Laser certification through the World Clinical Laser Institute
- Laser training through the Academy of Laser Dentistry
- Lactation training through the GOLD Learning online educational program
Outside of the Dental Office, What Do You Like to Do?
When she’s not hard at work, Dr. Paige is happily married to Matthew Tanksley, a local realtor and fitness competitor. They are the proud parents of two sons, Jaxson and Samson, and have a dog named Lexi. In her limited free time, Dr. Paige enjoys running, rollerblading, American sports cars, riding Harleys, and trying out new wines.