FIG 5 .

Relative abundances of two cohabiting commensal groups in tongue microbiota of elderly adults with various oral conditions. Of the 506 individuals, the 16 edentulous elderly were excluded from the maximum plaque index, percentage of decayed and filled teeth (DFT), number of decayed teeth (DT), percentage of teeth with bleeding on probing (BOP), and mean periodontal pocket depth (PPD), whereas 349 participants with ≥20 teeth were excluded from denture use. The individuals were categorized into the tertile of percentage of DFT, percentage of teeth with BOP, and mean PPD, and the parameters of the microbiota status were compared. Dots indicate the mean; the error bars indicate 95% confidence intervals. ***, P < 0.001, **, P < 0.01, and *, P < 0.05, in Kruskal-Wallis analysis.