Adolescents and oral health service utilization in Canterbury, New Zealand: A geospatial cross-sectional study.

Objective: Non-utilization of dental care during adolescence can result in poorer oral health and subsequently higher expenditures on dental services. This study examined the geospatial and epidemiological factors associated with utilization of the publicly funded Adolescent Oral Health Services (AOHS) in Canterbury, Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ).

Methods: A secondary analysis of prospectively collected routine data from AOHS visits of adolescents in school Year 9 (13-14 years) for the financial year 2019-2020.