Our aim was to identify determinants of utilization of dental services amon
g 20- to 34-year-old Danes as outlined in a conceptual framework. Our sampl
e consisted of a sample of 464 individuals who had been interviewed by 10 e
xperienced interviewers from The Danish National Institute of Social Resear
ch. Our questionnaire comprised a battery of questions based on our concept
ual model. The analysis was done in a hierarchical manner using a framework
with three steps: Predisposing factors --> Enabling factors --> Need facto
rs --> Utilization. Associations A,ere evaluated A,with multivariate logist
ic regression analysis and expressed as odds ratios. The following factors
were significantly associated with irregular use of dental services: age, s
ex, exercise habits, cost of dental treatment, dental anxiety, and perceive
d condition of teeth. Our findings suggest that a strategy aiming to increa
se young people's dental attendance should focus on the transition period t
hat is, when the youngsters leave the public dental health care system and
have to make use of the private system. The strategy should also take into
account that young men are more likely to become non-users. A concerted eff
ort could be dedicated to the non-negligible group of individuals with dent
al anxiety and dental phobia.