Denplan has ‘strongly disagreed' with the Advertising Standard Agency's (ASA) decision that the insurer's recent ‘Doitforyourselfie' TV advert was misleading for viewers.
The ASA concluded that the advert was misleading and could not be shown again in its current form.
Viewers had suggested that the main star of the advert, who wore prostheses of poor teeth, would require cosmetic surgery to improve his oral health but cosmetic dentistry would not be covered by Denplan.
Richard Ward, head of marketing at Denplan said: "Denplan strongly believes that the TV advert was not misleading. While we respect the role that the ASA has to play and fully intend to adhere to the decision, Denplan feels that the ASA's assessment on this occasion was overly subjective."
The advert, which ran for three weeks during October, had received complaints from 11 viewers.
Ward believed were no "exaggerations or claims" in the advert and there had been a "clear call to action" inviting individuals to ask their dentist about Denplan.
He reiterated that the advert had professional input by Denplan dentists at all stages of preparation to exclude cosmetic interventions.
Ward concluded: "Denplan finds it difficult to understand how viewers could have been misled in the absence of an explanation about the types of treatment Denplan covers.
"The ad simply encourages viewers to visit a Denplan dentist, at which point we would expect a dentist to make a clinical judgment based on the condition of a patient's teeth and recommend appropriate treatment based on their oral health needs.
"The ad focused on an individual who has neglected their oral health, as a result of not visiting their dentist regularly. Denplan believes this was an important public health message as it wanted to motivate the general public to become more proactive with their approach to their oral health and to recognise the importance of regular dental appointments."
Denplan said that the ad aired to 20 million consumers, reached over 1 million on social media and generated nearly 60,000 online searches on the insurer's "Find a Denplan Dentist" tool.
Further reading
Advertising watchdog upholds complaints against ‘misleading' Denplan advert
Denplan unveils national TV ad campaign with #doitforyourselfie
