Health Targets

Dental service marketing campaign working well in Canterbury

A social marketing campaign promoting free dental services for adolescents has helped Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) raise utilisation rates at low decile schools by 33 percent in three years.

Image of a poster from the Canterbury dental service social marketing campaign.

Image of a poster from the Canterbury dental service social marketing campaign.

The campaign “It’s Free & It’s All Good” was launched in July 2004 as a shared project between Canterbury, South Canterbury and West Coast DHBs. Its main aim was to increase the number of 13-17 year olds using the free dental service.

In 2003, there was a 46 percent utilisation rate of adolescent dental services in Canterbury decile 1-3 schools. This rose to 61 percent in 2006, an increase of 33 percent. Overall, 70 percent of Canterbury’s adolescents used the free service in 2003. By 2006 this had increased to 74 percent.

Dr Martin Lee, CDHB’s Clinical Director of the School and Community Dental Service, says the social marketing campaign’s impact has been very pleasing, particularly in Canterbury’s three low decile secondary schools.

It was developed on the back of South Island DHB-commissioned research by the University of Otago, which investigated young people’s attitudes towards dental services.

Dr Lee said one of the strong messages that came through the research was that oral health needed to be made interesting and relevant to young people, rather than "old and boring and the sort of thing their parents might do’’.

Campaign messages and images were tested with focus groups in Christchurch secondary schools. Print, radio and television advertisements, as well as posters, were then developed.

A year after the campaign was launched in the South Island, other DHBs around the country were also persuaded to pick up the youth-focused material and use them in their areas. CDHB now supplies posters and other promotional material to other DHBs.

"There’s a lot to this scheme and it’s working very well for us,’’ Dr Lee says.

"We also have good engagement from private dentists, almost all of whom have contracts to provide adolescent dental services.

"One of the things I’m very pleased about is the way we have ended up working nationally – getting the material out around the country and avoiding reinventing the wheel 21 different times.’’

Dr Lee says there is more to be done to reach the 85 percent national Health Target. This includes looking at how to reach parents and getting them involved in ensuring their teenagers make and keep dental appointments. School-based services and clinics specifically for adolescents will also be investigated.

Page last updated: 8 August 2007