Question

An experiment to test the effectiveness of regular treatments with fluoride varnish to reduce tooth decay involved 36 volunteers who had half of their teeth (the right side or left side, determined by a coin flip) painted with a fluoride varnish every six month for 5 years. At the end of the treatments, the number of new cavities during the treatment period was compared on treatment (fluoride varnish) side versus the control (no fluoride varnish) side. The appropriate statistical test for analyzing the results of this experiment is

Answer 1

One-sample t-test on paired data.

Explanation:

Here, two different measures or reading were obtained for the two treatment (fluoride vanish) and the control (no fluoride vanish). However, this two measurement were obtained from each of the observations or subjects, hence why it is called one sample t-test on paired data. This would allow the effectiveness of the floiride vanish treatment on each the subjects teeth as we'll have two different data (fluoride vanish treatment) and control treatment on each the subjects employed for the study.