Background:
Molar Incisor Hypomineralisation (MIH) is a significant dental condition with an uncertain aetiology. The Southampton Women’s Survey (SWS), a birth cohort from Southern England, provided data from prenatal, perinatal and postnatal periods, offering an ideal setting to explore the aetiology of MIH.
Aims: This study aimed to identify key variables associated with MIH from the literature and to examine their association with MIH in 12-year-old children enrolled in the SWS.
Methods:
A comprehensive literature review used three online databases: PubMed, Medline, and Embase, to identify key candidate variables associated with MIH. Specific inclusion and exclusion criteria were established to ensure the review focused on the most relevant studies regarding the aetiology of MIH in children. Based on the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry criteria, three paediatric dentists evaluated intraoral photographs of 12 years of children in the SWS for MIH. Oliver’s criteria were used to determine the severity of MIH.
Results:
The study identified key candidate variables across prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal periods, including maternal education, maternal health, medications used during pregnancy, mode of delivery, complications at labour, the duration of breastfeeding, and antibiotics during the first year of life. The SWS dataset provided vitamin D levels measured at different developmental stages of tooth formation, assessed during early and late pregnancy, in cord blood at birth, and via Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) scans for bone mineral content (BMC) at age four. Out of 659 photographed children, 551 had sufficient intraoral photographs to permit the presence or absence of MIH to be diagnosed. The prevalence of MIH was at 8.2%, with incisor hypomineralisation (IH) at 4.7%. The majority of MIH cases presented with mild molar hypomineralisation. No significant associations were found between MIH and any key candidate or demographic variables.
Conclusion:
This study quantified the prevalence of MIH and incisor hypomineralisation (IH) among children in the SWS and explored early-life aetiological variables associated with MIH. Key candidate variables at the prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal periods were identified, and potential associations with MIH were investigated; however, no statistically significant associations were found. The findings enabled an exploration of vitamin D levels measured at multiple time points. However, no statistically significant associations were identified between MIH and Vitamin D. These findings provided a foundation for clinicians and public health officials to understand MIH better and guide future research and prevention strategies. Additionally, this study underscored the utility of intraoral photographs in conducting large-scale epidemiological studies.
