Not visiting the dentist for a routine dental check increased the chance of reporting one's own oral health as bad. In any case, the habit of visiting for dental 'checkup, once per year or once every 2 years was associated with nearly all the individuals perceiving his/her oral health positively. However, in order to gather more solid scientific data to guide public policies it is necessary to perform longitudinal studies, especially experiments in different populations focused mainly on the socioeconomic characteristics and dental clinical conditions.

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This study evaluated the test-retest reliability of a single item, namely self-perceived oral health, included in a questionnaire applied in a longitudinal study (the "Pró-Saúde" or Pro-Health Study, 2001