This post is about what every purpose-driven provider can learn from the way she redefined her brand, her workflow, and her results.
(Christin Buehler – who is the focus of this post – was featured in my 2025 AAPMD webinar series on Positioning and Promoting Your Practice.)
Do You Make These Positioning Mistakes in Your Practice?
Most dentists assume their clinical excellence should speak for itself.
But here’s the truth: it rarely does.
Patients don’t just choose the best provider. They choose the one who resonates with their values, not just their symptoms, their fears, and their hopes.
This is especially true in airway-focused and integrative dental care that often lands out of network.
If your website, your marketing, and your front-desk pitch all sound like everyone else’s, the right patients will scroll right past you.
Dr. Christin Buehler didn’t change her skills. She changed her story. And that changed everything.
Before You Read the Next Section:
- Write down who your practice is currently attracting.
- Now write down who you wish you were attracting.
- If there’s a gap, your positioning isn’t aligned with your purpose.
How a Child’s Struggle Turned a Dentist Into a Wellness Leader
Christin was already running a successful general dental practice. Patients liked her. Her team was solid. Production was consistent.
But then her son started exhibiting troubling symptoms: poor sleep, attention issues, behavioral challenges.
Christin did what any dedicated parent would do. She went to specialists. And then more specialists. And got nowhere.
It wasn’t until she met an airway-focused orthodontist that everything clicked. A CBCT scan showed her son’s jaw was underdeveloped. His airway was compromised. It wasn’t a behavioral issue.
It was a breathing issue.
Treatment transformed his health. And it changed the trajectory of Christin’s career.
She knew she couldn’t keep practicing the same way. She had to become the kind of provider she wished she’d found sooner for her own family.
Before You Read the Next Section:
- Complete this sentence: “I can’t unsee _______, and I’m not okay pretending it doesn’t matter.”
- That sentence is the foundation of your origin story.
Should You Separate Your Services or Blend Them Into One Brand?
This was the crossroads Christin faced: Should she keep everything under Buehler Family Dental? Or should she create a second brand for her airway work?
There’s no universal answer. The choice comes down to one word: clarity—the kind of clarity that helps the right patients say yes faster.
Christin realized that trying to talk to two very different mindsets with one voice was diluting both.
So she made the call:
- Buehler Family Dental: General and cosmetic dentistry, patient-first tone, everyday language.
- Breathe for Foundational Development: Thought leadership, airway care, collaborative treatment, and high-level parent education.
This wasn’t about logos. It was about speaking clearly to the patient in front of you—and giving them a destination that reflects their needs.
Before You Read the Next Section:
- Ask yourself: “Do my website and brand clearly explain what I do best—and who it’s for?”
- If you serve two distinct types of patients, consider whether a dual-brand strategy would help you speak more directly to each.
Why Wouldn’t You Want to Attract Smart, Empowered Patients Who Say Yes with Confidence?
Most airway and integrative dental practices aim to serve families. But Christin discovered her most valuable audience wasn’t the whole family—it was the mother.
These moms had done their homework.
They were burned out on being dismissed by pediatricians and allergists. They didn’t want more tests. They wanted someone to connect the dots. Not dismiss their concerns. Not imply or express that it was in their head or hand them a brochure. Just connect the dots.
Christin speaks their language. Because she was one of them.
When a mother sits in her chair and hears the words “I believe you,” the tears often come. Not because she’s weak. Because she’s been stronger than she should have to be for longer than she needed to and is FINALLY BEING SEEN.
Before You Read the Next Section:
- Write a one-sentence problem statement in your ideal patient’s voice:
“I’m sick of ______, and I wish someone would just ______.” - Use this in your homepage or next consultation script.
What Her Websites Proves and Why Your Site Might Be Holding You Back
In the early days, Christin’s website told people what she did—but not what she stood for. She said it best: “All you could really glean from the site was that there were some women working in an office, and here’s the phone number.”
That disconnect—the gap between her philosophy and her presence—wasn’t a design problem. It was a positioning problem.
When we worked together, she made one subtle change that unlocked it all: she gave people something to ask about.
Simply adding the Breathe for Foundational Development logo to the General Dentistry site sparked curiosity. Patients began asking, ‘What’s this?’ creating opportunities for meaningful, high-trust conversations
This is how clarity works—it creates curiosity in the right people and connection in the right moments.
Let’s look at what her websites do well—and how they prove her positioning is working.
buehlerfamilydental.com
- From the homepage, airway care is introduced—not hidden.
- The copy is warm, second-person, and emotionally intelligent.
- Four-step diagnostic flow (hygiene, tethered oral tissues, ortho, sleep) educates visitors gently.
- Subtle but clear signals: this practice thinks differently, even in general care.
breatheforfoundationaldevelopment.com
- Speaks directly to mothers up late Googling answers.
- Reinforces Christin’s credibility without self-promotion.
- Thoughtful use of FAQs, team bios, and referral partner messaging.
- Visual identity is calm, clinical, and collaborative.
Before You Read the Next Section:
- Visit your website. Then visit hers.
- Ask yourself: “Does mine express what I really believe? Does it teach what I most want people to understand?”
Branding Is Not a Surface Fix—It’s a Workflow Strategy
During the webinar, Christin explained how she integrated airway into her general practice without sacrificing either side. She didn’t overhaul her operations overnight. Instead, she started with what she had—screening tools, pamphlets, and her hygiene team—and built from there.
She said, “Every single patient that came through got screened, and we just started like that.”
Then she created dedicated consult times so that moms asking airway questions didn’t feel rushed.
Eventually, she trained her team to pre-frame the conversation before she even entered the room.
Her team members showed videos, used models, and shared the philosophy—so Christin could do what she does best: personalize the care plan.
Her brand isn’t just a marketing story. It’s how her practice runs every day.
Here’s where most consultants stop. But your brand isn’t just colors and taglines. It’s the way your practice flows.
Christin didn’t just create messaging. She:
- Implemented pediatric and adult sleep questionnaires into hygiene
- Built AIRWAY consult blocks separate from general dentistry
- Trained her team with books, CE, and one-on-one modeling
- Delegated pre-education to team members who now introduce key ideas before she even walks in the room
Positioning isn’t what you say.
It’s not a tagline. It’s not a logo.
It’s how you organize everything you do to support what you say.**
Before You Read the Next Section:
- Map your new patient flow from call to consult.
- Where are you reinforcing your positioning—and where are you undermining it?
She Lost Her Marketing Stress…And Gained the Patients She Always Wanted
Christin didn’t start with the intention of building two brands. She started by trying to explain what she was already doing to help patients who might have airway issues.
But that decision—clarifying her message—was a game changer. “Once we separated the brands, the questions came,” she said. “People wanted to know what Breathe was. And when they asked, I got to tell them. And it led to the right kinds of patients showing up.”
Her team felt the change too. Her assistants could explain it. Her hygienists could screen for it. Her patients came in already aligned.
Clarity did what marketing never could: it made her care model easy to share, easy to understand, and easy to say yes to.
Before rebranding, Christin had the right skills and the wrong audience.
After rebranding:
- More aligned patients
- Better consults
- Higher case acceptance
- Deeper team engagement
She didn’t buy more traffic.
She focused her message.
Before You Read the Next Section:
- Think of your favorite patient from the last 6 months.
- What made them such a great fit?
- Now: where is that trait reflected in your messaging?
What Everybody Ought to Know…About Positioning A Practice
Positioning isn’t just messaging. It’s reflection.
It’s the decision to stop hiding the best parts of what you do—especially when they don’t fit neatly into a one-size-fits-all dental label.
It’s what helped Christin build a culture she could be proud of. A practice her team could align behind. And a message that truly matched the experience she was delivering.
That’s what positioning does. It creates coherence—between the heart of the doctor and the story the practice tells the world.
You already have a brand. Every practice does. But are you in control of it?
Here’s how to reclaim it:
- Define your origin story
- Clarify your ideal audience
- Extract and express your real values
- Build a digital experience that reinforces those values
- Train your team to deliver on the promise
Before You Read the Next Section:
- Make a note of the one area you most need to improve this quarter:
- Audience Clarity
- Brand Values
- Website Messaging
- Operational Flow
- Team Alignment
You’re Closer Than You Think to the Practice You’ve Always Wanted
Christin didn’t abandon general dentistry.
She evolved it.
You don’t have to start over.
You just have to stop hiding what makes you special.
Book a Lunch & Learn with me.
We’ll review your site, clarify your message, and map out a positioning strategy that aligns with your purpose—and attracts the patients you most want to serve.
