Table 1. Basic sample characteristics (gender and age).

n: number of patients, SD: standard deviation, Min.: minimum, Max.: maximum, Group 1: traditional brackets group, Group 2: self-ligating brackets group, Group 3: self-ligating brackets + flapless piezocision group; *employing chi-square test; ** age is given in years; †employing one-way ANOVA

ANOVA: analysis of variance

Group	Gender	n (%)	P-value*	Mean age** (SD)	Min. age	Max. age	P-value†
Group 1 (n=21)	Male	5 (23.80 %)	0.674	20.72 (2.85)	18.30	27.10	0.954
	Female	16 (76.19 %)
Group 2 (n=21)	Male	6 (28.57 %)		18.48 (2.96)	17.00	27.50
	Female	15 (71.42 %)
Group 3 (n=21)	Male	5 (23.80 %)		19.95 (2.39)	18.00	26.40
	Female	16 (76.19 %)
All sample (n=63)	Male	17 (26.98 %)		19.71 (2.74)	18.00	27.50
	Female	46 (73.01 %)