the aim of this study was to determine which characteristics (predisposing and enabling, oral health, perceived need for dental treatment, and behavior) are independently associated with self-rated oral health among adults and older adults in southeast brazil. the study was based on 3,240 participants in the sb-brasil project/ southeast. the characteristics of those who rated their oral health as good/very good were compared to those who rated it as fair, poor, or very poor. the following characteristics were significantly and independently associated with better self-rated oral health among adults: monthly household income > us$ 60.00, no current perceived need for dental treatment, place of residence in cities with > 50,000 inhabitants, and visit to the dentist > 3 years previously. among older adults the factors were: monthly household income > us$ 60.00, no current perceived need for dental treatment, and 1-19 permanent teeth. our results confirm those observed in other countries, showing associations between self-rated oral health and predisposing and enabling factors, oral health, perceived need for dental treatment, and behavior.
