App installs2,083%INCREASE IN MONTHLY APP INSTALLS30 → 655 installs a month
Monthly app installs655 · +2,083% installs
Case study · Paid media + content · Kids' health app, UK
How My Dental Buddy made kids beg to brush, and got parents to hit install.
A testing-led Meta and App Store ads engine, backed by a character-led content system, that grew installs of a dentist-built brushing app on a lean, mission-led budget.
5,000+App installs
−61%Cost per install
~3pPer content post
Partners with
+
+The numbers
Performance highlights
Meta Ads59%LOWER COST PER INSTALLfrom week 1 to week 4 of creative testing
Meta cost per install−59% CPI
Content cost~3pPER FINISHED INSTAGRAM POSTconcept, caption and image, using AI inside a strict brand system
40Complete posts in the first batch
~£1.25Total cost for the batch
340Topics in the content plan
Services provided
Facebook & Instagram AdsApp Store AdsCharacter-led content
Evening brush7-day streak
1:24left to brush
Now the top teeth!
Plaque in 21 days−45%
Kids who enjoyed it97.8%
01 · Background
Built by an NHS dentist tired of the cycle.
My Dental Buddy was founded by Dr Ramzan Mohammed, an NHS dentist who spent ten years watching the same pattern repeat: children arrive with decay, the decay is treated, and the cycle starts again. The system funds treatment far more than prevention, so there's rarely time to teach a child how to brush properly.
The answer was a gamified brushing app for families, with characters, streaks, rewards and a parent dashboard that guides children through a full two-minute brush. Alongside it runs a dentist-led supervised brushing programme for schools, commissioned by Oldham Council and backed by Innovate UK and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
The product worked. In an early pilot, plaque scores fell 45% in 21 days. The job was getting it into more family homes.
Pilot across 6 schools and 146 children.
02 · The problem
The most preventable problem. One of the most costly.
At home, parents know the picture well: nightly brushing battles, rushed 30-second brushes, and no way of knowing if it was done properly. Across England, the cost shows up in hospitals.
26.9%of five-year-olds have visible decay (22.4% dentinal decay)OHID, 2024
56,143hospital tooth extractions for 0 to 19 year olds, costing the NHS £87.7M2024/25
43%of children haven't seen an NHS dentist in the past yearNHSBSA, 2024/25
Tooth decay is the leading cause of hospital admission for children aged 5 to 9.
03 · Challenge
A health app on a child's phone? Trust comes first.
My Dental Buddy was a small, mission-led team with a limited budget, selling into a category where trust matters enormously and where most dental content looks like it belongs on a surgery noticeboard.
The brief: turn awareness into app installs from UK parents of children aged 3 to 14, at an efficient cost per install, and build a brand parents recognise and children ask for, without relying on big media spend.
04 · Our approach
Paid ads to find parents. Characters to win their trust.
The right parents
Meta ads reached UK parents of 3 to 14 year olds, especially those already using habit apps for their kids.
Hooks from real pain
Ads opened with what parents feel, like "End the 20-minute bedtime battles".
Test fast, scale winners
Character-led vs real-world creative on the same budget. Weak ads cut by day 5, winners scaled.
Capture the search
App Store Ads caught parents actively searching for a kids' brushing app, with the same winning hooks.
A cast kids love
Buddy the fox, Dino, Bunny and Bea gave the brand a face parents trust and children ask for.
Content on a system
5 pillars and a 340-topic plan kept posts consistent and on-brand, at around 3p each.
05 · Results
From brushing battles to brand kids ask for.
Monthly installs grew 2,083% while Meta cost per install fell 61%. The winning creative was a 9-second clip of Buddy the fox brushing alongside a real child, hooked on "End the 20-minute bedtime battle", and the character-led feed grew Instagram from 420 to 6,800 followers, giving every paid click a trusted brand to land on.
| Paid media | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly app installs | 30 | 655 |
| Cost per install (Meta) | £2.80 | £1.10 |
| Cost per install (App Store Ads) | £1.95 | £0.85 |
| Install to first brush | 38% | 71% |
420 → 6,800Instagram followers
6.2%Average engagement rate
85Saves and shares per post
1,650Installs from organic and retargeted audiences
Now booking strategy calls for 2027
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