Many factors contribute as facilitators of or barriers to adolescents' use of dental services. Guided by the expanded Andersen model for dental service utilization, the aim of this study was to identify factors associated with the use of dental services among adolescents ages 12-16 in south Mexico City (n = 247). Adolescents answered a questionnaire on predisposing factors (age and gender), enabling factors (socioeconomic status, oral health support, parental years of education, and previous dental treatments), and psychosocial and behavioral factors (attitudes towards oral health; knowledge of gingivitis; alcohol, drug, and tobacco use; and depressive symptoms), and they underwent a visual clinical exam to determine their need factors (caries and gingivitis). The adolescents reported whether or not they had attended a dental visit in the last year for any reason. Multiple logistic regression was used to evaluate these factors. Having oral health support increased the odds of a dental visit by 2.69 (95% CI = 1.24-5.84). Previous dental treatment increased the odds of a dental visit by 2.25 (95% CI = 1.12-4.52). The presence of depressive symptoms reduced the odds of a dental visit by 4% (OR = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.94-0.99). Enabling and psychosocial factors of oral health support and previous dental treatment were positively associated with the utilization of dental services, while depressive symptoms were negatively associated.
Keywords: Andersen model; access; adolescent; dental health services; oral health; psychosocial factors.