AbstractDiscontinuance in seeking dental care has been reported in the transition from school‐based to community‐based dental services at the beginning of adolescence. It has been speculated that users of school‐based dental services may develop an institutional orientation rather than a self‐reliance in seeking dental care. The present study investigated the transition from school‐based to community‐based dental services by adolescents aged 12 to 17 years old. The probability of having visited a dental provider in the previous 12 months was not associated with previous enrolment in school‐based dental services. Discontinuance in seeking dental care was best explained by socio‐demographic and dental system variables linked to use of community‐based dental services. The implications were that the solutions to discontinuance in seeking dental care lie with the identification of important factors in adolescents' use of community‐ba