Prevalence of molar incisor hypomineralization in India: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Research question: To estimate the pooled prevalence of molar incisor hypomineralization (MIH) in children from India.

Research protocol: The PRISMA guidelines were followed.

Literature search: An electronic search of the databases was performed to find prevalence studies of MIH in children above age 6 years in India.

Data extraction: Two authors independently extracted the data from the 16 included studies.

Quality appraisal: The risk of bias was assessed using a modified version of the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale adapted for cross-sectional studies.

Data analysis: The pooled prevalence estimate of MIH was calculated using logit transformed data with inverse variance approach in a random-effects model with 95% confidence interval (CI). Heterogeneity was assessed with the I² statistic. The subgroups were analyzed to assess the pooled prevalence of MIH according to sex, arch-wise proportion of MIH-affected teeth, and proportion of children with the MIH phenotypes.

Results and interpretation of results: Sixteen studies included in the meta-analysis represented 7 states of India. A total of 25,273 children were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of MIH in India was estimated to be 10.0% (95% CI: 0.07, 0.12) with significantly high heterogeneity between the included studies. The pooled prevalence did not vary according to sex. The pooled proportions of MIH-affected teeth were similar in the maxillary and mandibular arches. The pooled proportion of children with MH phenotype was higher (56%) than those with M + IH phenotype (44%). Further studies with standardized criteria for recording MIH are needed to ascertain the prevalence of MIH in India.