Using the Expanded Andersen Model to Determine Factors Associated with Mexican Adolescents' Utilization of Dental Services.

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 ( = 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).