Table 2.

Comparison of superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity between oral-health behavior and attitude strata.

SOD activity (U/g protein)	n	Before scaling		After scaling		P valuea
		Median	Q1–Q3	Median	Q1–Q3
Dental visiting pattern
Irregular visits (≥1 year)	8	83.09	51.04–100.15	194.30	101.64–274.85	0.02
Regular visits (<1 year)	22	75.44	49.22–208.86	98.79	60.44–246.38	0.81
P valueb		0.38		0.31
Tooth-brushing frequency
<2 times/day	4	64.56	45.33–131.78	156.60	98.79–257.48	0.37
≥2 times/day	26	85.04	50.28–149.48	124.90	60.44–264.87	0.46
P valueb		0.60		0.56
Oral-health attitudes score
<5 points	11	67.10	46.53–79.89	115.94	66.21–214.81	0.10
≥5 points	19	106.97	49.22–208.86	133.89	60.44–284.83	0.81
P valueb		0.14		0.93

^aWilcoxon signed-rank test.

^bMann-Whitney U test.