The application of statistics in Orthodontics

Abstract

Statistics plays a fundamental role in scientific method, which aims to organize, to describe, to analyze and to interpret the data obtained from an observation or an experiment. However, it continues unavailable, in interpretation, by the readers as well as by those who employ it. Sometimes, statistics is mistakenly applied or comprehended due to some terms, which, statistically, present their own meanings. Additionally, there are few articles in Orthodontics that describe this subject. Thus, the present article aims to perform a survey about the frequencies of the use of statistics, to make considerations about the selection of its methods and to explain about the possible interpretations of the data.

Statistics; Orthodontics