Question

which test would be most appropriate to answer the following research question: Do patients with a history of cocaine use have more gumline cavities than other patients? There were15 people in the sample (7 with a history of cocaine use and8 without), and the number of gumline cavities was not normally distributed.

Answer 1

Tooth decay at the gumline is also called as root decay.

It is more common than the diseases like hypertension and arthritis.Gumline cavities indicates bacterial infection on the tooth surface.It spreads from one tooth to adjacent tooth easily.Two new preventive methods are widely in practice now like coating the tooth with antibacterial agent, which is painless and time consuming.

Cocaine has a very lethal effect on our body and tooth. Tooth decay is very prominent with this drug as the individual tend to rub this on teeth directly.This leads to direct erosion of tooth surface ultimately resulting in cavities.

Gumline cavities are common in these two types of people ( drug users: cocaine and poor oral hygiene: who fails to clean , gargle,floss ,brush after eating).This could be the reason for abnormal distribution in this sample