Table 2.

Mean (SD) of total MDAS scores pre- and post-dental treatment

Items in the MDAS	MDAS pre-treatment scores			MDAS post-treatment scores			P value (Wilcoxon signed rank test)
	Mean (SD)	SEM	95% CI	Mean (SD)	SEM	95% CI
Visit to a dentist tomorrow	1.74 (0.996)	0.045	1.65–1.83	1.48 (0.86)	0.039	1.4–1.56	0.00001**
Sitting in the waiting room	1.77 (1.01)	0.461	0.87–2.67	1.5 (0.87)	0.039	1.42–1.58	0.000007**
Tooth drilled	2.44 (1.26)	0.057	2.33–2.55	1.97 (1.09)	0.049	1.87–2.1	0.7865
Teeth scaled and polished	1.58 (0.97)	0.044	1.49–1.67	1.38 (0.788)	0.036	1.3–1.45	0.0003**
Local anesthesia	2.49 (1.41)	0.064	2.36–2.62	2.05 (1.23)	0.056	1.94–2.16	0.000001**
Total MDAS score	10.06 (4.44)	0.2	9.67–10.452	8.41 (3.89)	0.18	8.1–8.76	0.0001**
Spearman rank correlation
Rho 0.78 (indicates strong correlation)

SD, standard deviation; SEM, standard error of mean; CI, confidence intervals

**p ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant