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 rat-ed their oral health as good/very good were com-pared to those who rated it as fair, poor, or very poor. The following characteristics were signifi-cantly and independently associated with better self-rated oral health among adults: monthly household income ≥US$ 60.00, no current per-ceived need for dental treatment, place of resi-dence 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 coun-tries, showing associations between self-rated oral health and predisposing and enabling fac-tors, oral health, perceived need for dental treat-ment, and behavior