"Ethnic disparities in the prevalence of Molar-Incisor-Hypomineralisation (MIH) and caries among 6-12-year-old children in Catalonia, Spain"

Authors

  • E Cots PhD Student, Department of Paediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (UIC), Barcelona, Spain - Professor, Department of Preventive, Community and Public Health Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (UIC), Barcelona, Spain - Research Support Unit Metropolitana Nord, Primary Care Research Institute Jordi Gol (IDIAPJGol), Mataró, Spain - Multidisciplinary Research Group in Health and Society (GREMSAS) (2021-SGR-0148), 0800711 Barcelona
  • M Casas ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain - Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain - Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid
  • M Gregoriano Research Support Unit Metropolitana Nord, Primary Care Research Institute Jordi Gol (IDIAPJGol), Mataró
  • X Busquet-Dura Research Support Unit Metropolitana Nord, Primary Care Research Institute Jordi Gol (IDIAPJGol), Mataró, Spain - Home Care Program, Granollers Support Team (PADES), Valles Oriental Primary Care Service, Catalan Health Institute, Granollers
  • J Bielsa Research Support Unit Metropolitana Nord, Primary Care Research Institute Jordi Gol (IDIAPJGol), Mataró
  • C Chacon Research Support Unit Metropolitana Nord, Primary Care Research Institute Jordi Gol (IDIAPJGol), Mataró
  • L Kragt The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands - Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam
  • P Torán Research Support Unit Metropolitana Nord, Primary Care Research Institute Jordi Gol (IDIAPJGol), Mataró, Spain - Multidisciplinary Research Group in Health and Society (GREMSAS) (2021-SGR-0148), 0800711 Barcelona, Spain - Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitat de Girona, 17003 Girona Spain - Primary Care Research Group. Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), Campus Can Ruti, Badalona
  • F Guinot Professor and Department Chair, Department of Paediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (UIC), Barcelona

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23804/ejpd.2024.2029

Keywords:

Ethnicity, Molar-Incisor-Hypomineralisation, dental caries, children, health status disparities, public health dentistry

Abstract

AIM: To study the prevalence of MIH and caries in 6- and 12-year-old schoolchildren and their association with ethnic disparities and other relevant factors. BACKGROUND: In recent years, there has been uneven improvement in school children's oral health, highlighting inequalities in access to dental care and health outcomes, particularly among ethnic minorities. The most prevalent oral disease in childhood, caries, is preventable, as its risk factors are well known. However, MIH, a common condition affecting the enamel of permanent incisors and/or molars, has no established aetiology or preventive measures. METHODS: A cross-sectional study among schoolchildren was conducted in 725 children from Masnou (Barcelona, 2013) and in 577 children from Sant Andreu de Llavaneres (Barcelona, 2018-2020). Data collection was carried out by means of clinical examination and a selfreferenced questionnaire. Oral health outcomes included: presence of dental caries, presence of MIH, hypomineralised second primary molars (HSPM). All variables were analysed according to ethnic disparities and other variables such as socioeconomics, diet, hygiene habits, plaque and access to dental services. We performed multivariate Poisson regression models with robust variance to examine ethnic disparities in MIH and caries. CONCLUSION: This cross-sectional study based in Catalonia, Spain showed that there are ethnic disparities in caries as observed with other child's diseases; however, they do not seem to follow the same pattern for MIH. More studies are needed (i) to explore how MIH behaves among populations in terms of inequality; (ii) to study the aetiological factors of MIH; and (iii) to identify potential factors associated with MIH and caries that have not been studied and that may contribute to the observed ethnic disparities.