Table 1 Demographic data of the participants (N = 577)

Age (years)

 40–60

47 (27.5)

42 (24.6)

63 (36.8)

19 (11.1)

171 (100)

0.11

 61–69

48 (24.4)

58 (29.4)

65 (33.0)

26 (13.2)

197 (100)

 ≥ 70

37 (17.7)

65 (31.1)

68 (32.5)

39 (18.7)

209 (100)

Gender

< 0.001*

 Male

44 (23.4)

43 (22.9)

87 (46.3)

14 (7.4)

188 (100)

 Female

88 (22.6)

122 (31.4)

109 (28.0)

70 (18.0)

389 (100)

Smoking status

 Non-smoker

117 (24.5)

135 (28.2)

147 (30.8)

79 (16.5)

478 (100)

< 0.001*

 Current smoker

15 (15.2)

30 (30.3)

49 (49.5)

5 (5.1)

99 (100)

Use of smokeless tobacco

 Non-user

123 (24.3)

140 (27.6)

172 (33.9)

72 (14.2)

507 (100)

0.153

 Current user

9 (12.9)

25 (35.7)

24 (34.3)

12 (17.1)

70 (100)

Alcohol consumption

 Non-drinker

109 (23.5)

137 (29.6)

145 (31.3)

72 (15.6)

463 (100)

0.053

 Current alcohol drinker

23 (20.2)

28 (24.6)

51 (44.7)

12 (10.5)

114 (100)

Betel quid chewing habit

 Non-chewer

105 (27.3)

85 (22.1)

149 (38.8)

45 (11.7)

384 (100)

< 0.001*

 Current chewer

27 (14.0)

80 (41.5)

47 (24.4)

39 (20.2)

193 (100)

Working in the fields with strong sunlight

 No

58 (21.6)

83 (30.9)

84 (31.2)

44 (16.4)

269 (100)

0.319

 Yes

74 (24.0)

82 (26.6)

112 (36.4)

40 (13.0)

308 (100)

Having irritation in the oral cavity

 No

116 (26.0)

130 (29.1)

155 (34.7)

46 (10.3)

447 (100)

< 0.001*

 Yes

16 (12.3)

35 (26.9)

41 (31.5)

38 (29.2)

130 (100)

History of medical illness

 No

53 (21.4)

67 (27.0)

89 (35.9)

39 (15.7)

248 (100)

0.639

 Yes

79 (24.0)

98 (29.8)

107 (32.5)

45 (13.7)

329 (100)

Diabetes Mellitus

0.024*

 No

113 (24.6)

119 (25.9)

161 (35.0)

67 (14.6)

460 (100)

 Yes

19 (16.2)

46 (39.3)

35 (29.9)

17 (14.5)

117 (100)

Use of denture

 No

101 (20.0)

148 (29.2)

177 (35.0)

80 (15.8)

506 (100)

< 0.001*

 Yes

31 (43.7)

17 (23.9)

19 (26.8)

4 (5.6)

71 (100)

Xerostomia

0.06

 No

79 (24.2)

101 (31.0)

113 (34.7)

33 (10.1)

326 (100)

 Yes

53 (21.1)

64 (25.5)

83 (33.1)

51 (20.3)

251 (100)

Saliva flow rate (ml/min)

 Mean ± SD

0.72 ± 0.54

0.69 ± 0.67

0.67 ± 0.48

0.55 ± 0.45

0.67 ± 0.55

 Median

0.6

0.48

0.51

0.4

0.5

0.081^#

 (Interquartile range)

(0.32,1.03)

(0.24,0.92)

(0.30,0.99)

(0.20,0.78)

(0.25,0.95)

Hyposalivation (< 0.7 ml/min)

 No

54 (24.5)

62 (28.2)

81 (36.8)

23 (10.5)

220 (100)

0.144

 Yes

78 (21.8)

103 (28.9)

115 (32.2)

61 (17.1)

357 (100)

Levels of Candida

 0

13 (16.5)

26 (32.9)

30 (38.0)

10 (12.7)

79 (100)

 1

57 (26.4)

50 (23.1)

91 (42.1)

18 (8.3)

216 (100)

 2

32 (27.6)

37 (31.9)

34 (29.3)

13 (11.2)

116 (100)

 3

12 (17.1)

19 (27.1)

24 (34.3)

15 (21.4)

70 (100)

 4

18 (18.8)

33 (34.4)

17 (17.7)

28 (29.2)

96 (100)