Table 4.

Motivation for oral health care^a

	All participants	Dentate participants	Dentate participants not meeting ADA oral hygiene recommendations b
	n = 455	n = 384	n = 288
	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)
Take good care of my teeth and gums	5.7 (1.4)	5.8 (1.2)	5.6 (1.2)
Floss my teeth daily	5.2 (2.0)	5.5 (1.7)	5.2 (1.8)
Brush my tongue daily	5.9 (1.7)	5.9 (1.7)	5.8 (1.7)
Brush my teeth daily	6.4 (1.4)	6.6 (1.0)	6.5 (1.1)
See a dentist in the next 6 months	5.8 (1.8)	6.1 (1.5)	6.0 (1.5)

^a Each item measured on a 7 point Likert scale: 1 = not at all motivated, 4 = somewhat motivated, and 7 = very motivated.

^b Defined as brushing twice a day and flossing daily.