Molar Incisor Hypomineralization and Related Risk Factors among Primary School Children in Jeddah: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background/objectives: Molar Incisor Hypomineralization (MIH) is a prevalent multifactorial developmental dental defect with unclear etiology. This study aimed to identify potential risk factors for MIH among primary school children in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Methods: A cross-sectional study including children aged 7 to 10 years old, recruited from twelve randomly selected schools located in three regions of Jeddah city, was carried out. The children were examined for MIH and dental caries using the European Academy of Pediatric Dentistry Criteria (2003) and the DMFT/dmft WHO index. Parents were asked to provide medical and socio-demographic information on their children from their first two years of life.

Results: A total of 2010 children were examined, with 888 parents responding to the survey (a 44.2% response rate). Lower maternal education was found to be significantly associated with a decreased adjusted odds ratio (AOR) of MIH (Model 1: p = 0.014, AOR = 0.646, and 95% CI = 0.456 to 0.915; Model 2: p = 0.019, AOR = 0.658, and 95% CI = 0.465 to 0.933). Being an only child, a child's birth order, type of delivery, breastfeeding, and medical conditions were not associated with MIH.

Conclusions: The significant association between MIH and maternal education suggests that further research is needed to explore the underlying mechanisms and identify other potential confounding variables.