Oral care giant's ads labelled as 'significantly misleading'

Oral care giant Hismile has used "misleading" videos in social media advertisements showing a sales professional, and its own staff, spruiking products while dressed as health workers.

In one instance, AI appears to have been used to show a woman performing dental work.

ABC NEWS Verify has found she is a sales professional from a Brisbane dental clinic engaged in a partnership with Hismile.

"It's significantly misleading," said Australian Dental Association (ADA) president Chris Sanzaro.

"People watching those ads are going to be misled by that, people looking like a health professional, purporting to be a health professional, but they're not actually registered as one at all.

"It's really banking on the trust that's been built up in the profession by years and years of education … and trying to claim some of that, when there's no basis for that claim, is hugely disappointing."

Hismile also advertised a product using a clip of a woman who has been permanently banned from providing any health services by a state authority because she poses a risk to public safety.

In the same ad it used AI clips to show decayed teeth rapidly healing after a liquid substance was put on them.

It comes just weeks after the company was fined by the consumer watchdog for separate alleged false and misleading representations in its social media advertising.

Signs of AI

One Hismile ad featured a woman dressed in the pink branded scrubs of a Brisbane dental practice talking about the benefits of a product.

The ad showed her talking to camera while wearing dental loupes, a magnification tool used by many dentists and dental hygienists to enhance their vision.

It then showed her performing dental work on a patient and later looking through a microscope. These shots show signs of AI generation.

The dental loupes and the patient's mouth are warped in the first shot. The staff member's ring switches hands, and the loupes are again warped in the second shot. Both shots have an unnatural skin sheen.

Despite appearances, the woman is not a dentist but a sales professional, and the practice's managing partner.

ABC NEWS Verify asked the clinic about the use of AI in the clips.

"[The practice] did not approve the alteration or manipulation of the relevant imagery in the manner shown," a statement said.

"The matter has been raised with Hismile, and [the practice] has requested immediate removal and clarification."

According to Meta's ad library, it ran from May 31 to June 22.

The ad carried a number of disclaimers in small text but only "Hismile partner endorsement" appeared over the section featuring the sales professional.

"All members of the practice are depicted in the manner they have been presented to our film crew," Hismile said in a statement.

"Hismile does not alter scripts, scrubs or dental loupes, as they are worn by the member creating their own representation.

"Upon becoming aware any practice member was not qualified, Hismile removed all such content.

"Hismile has a strict compliance policy that does not allow the use of AI or other digital manipulation to alter the overall impression of its videos."

It did not address a question on the claim that the imagery was altered or manipulated without approval.

Scrubs and gloves

At least two other ads featured a "philanthropy and partnerships coordinator" from a Gold Coast dental practice wearing scrubs and gloves, in one case standing beside someone who looked like a patient in a real treatment room.

The small text disclaimer over the clips only identified them as a "Hismile partner endorsement".

The clinic did not respond to questions from ABC NEWS Verify on whether this was appropriate.

The surnames of some staff members were removed from its website after the inquiry.

In a February ad, a Hismile staff member dressed in scrubs sat in the same Gold Coast clinic.

This time, the ad did contain a small-text disclaimer that "this is not a dental professional this is a member of staff".

But at times, on Instagram at least, that disclaimer could be partially obscured by an overlay connected to a "shop now" button.

It is not the only time a Hismile creator has donned clothing commonly associated with health professionals.

A more recent ad from June featured one of the company's content creators dressed in scrubs and gloves, again with the disclaimer that the "Hismile content creator shown is not a medical or scientific professional".

"It's really easy to miss them," ADA president Dr Sanzaro said.

"Things that should be clear to consumers should be crystal clear to the consumers."

Hismile did not respond to questions regarding why staff members appeared in scrubs for the ads, and whether that could be seen as misleading.

'Teeth can heal'

Another ad for a product began with a woman standing in front of a white board in a lecture type setting.

"Teeth can heal," the woman declared at the start of the ad.

"And if they do have a little decay, they have the ability to heal themselves, as every other body tissue does."

The video appears to show Barbara O'Neill, who is currently subject to a permanent prohibition by the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) to provide any health services.

According to the HCCC, Ms O'Neill is "an unregistered practitioner who provides services as a naturopath, nutritionist and health educator".

In 2019, it permanently banned her from providing any health services after finding she "poses a risk to the health or safety of members of the public".

It is not suggested Ms O'Neill is in any way involved with Hismile, only that the company used a clip of her from the internet in its advertisement.

No small-text disclaimer ran over the clip of Ms O'Neill.

ABC NEWS Verify asked Matt Hopcraft from the Melbourne Dental School if Ms O'Neill should have been used in an ad for an oral product.

"Short answer to that is no," he said.

The ad showed AI videos of decayed teeth healing after a liquid substance is put on them.

The clips carried a disclaimer which read, "visual depicted is a dramatisation for entertainment purposes only".

Dentists said context was needed regarding the claim that "teeth can heal".

"Teeth do have an ability to heal themselves up to a certain point and that's where professional dental advice is really important," Dr Sanzar said.

"Trying to make that sort of claim, for people to be able to heal their own teeth, carries the danger that there are teeth past that point and will actually deteriorate over time."

Dr Hopcraft agreed.

"Usually, the point in time when people know that they've got tooth decay is when they have pain or when they can see it and there's a hole in the tooth," he said.

"By that stage it's too late, the tooth can't heal itself from there."

In a statement, Hismile said: "All statements within any content are factual and educational in nature."

The company did not address questions about the use of Barbara O'Neill in the ad.

Previous breaches

In June, Hismile paid $138,000 in penalties after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) issued it with infringement notices for alleged false and misleading representations in its social media advertising.

Those penalties related to separate ads to the ones above.

The ACCC said the ads saw "apparently random shoppers in a public setting tried Hismile's products and expressed their satisfaction with the results".

But those "random shoppers" were Hismile employees.

Advertising for another product, which claimed to remove stains on teeth, was also found to be in breach.

The company signed a court-enforceable undertaking with the ACCC to establish and implement a competition and consumer law compliance program.

It agreed that it would not represent any of its staff as a random member of the public providing a testimonial, review, or commentary.

It also committed to not represent that any product it sells produces permanent results when this is not the case.

When asked about the ads involving staff, or partners, in scrubs and gloves, as well as the one featuring Ms O'Neill, the ACCC replied with a general statement.

"Ultimately, whether a business has engaged in misleading conduct will depend on the individual circumstances in each case," the watchdog said.

"When using AI-generated imagery in their marketing, businesses should ensure that any advertisements or images used do not create an overall false impression," it said.