Material and methods:

The study was based on a search for epidemiological case-control studies of MIH that described an associated etiological factor, in order to obtain the odds ratios needed to analyze the prevalence of the factor concerned and its possible role in the etiology of the condition.

Results:

The initial search produced 50 articles, eight of which met the criteria for the analysis. The total population analyzed consisted of a sample of 7,901 subjects, 992 of whom had MIH (i.e., a prevalence of 12.55%). Asthma was reported as an etiological factor in five papers, which included 474 subjects with MIH with an OR of 4.4954 (p < 0.0001). Antibiotic use was reported as an etiological factor in three papers, which reported on a population of 231 subjects with MIH and OR of 5.5348 (p < 0.0001). Fever was reported as an etiological factor in two papers, involving a population of 176 subjects with MIH and an OR of 4.0545 (p < 0.0001). Pneumonia was reported as an etiological factor in two papers, which dealt with a population of 454 cases of MIH and produced an OR of 2.285 (p < 0.0001).

Conclusion:

The results of the present study suggest that one etiological factor common to all of the MIH cases studied is an infl ammatory process, in which the presence of agents that cause alterations in ameloblasts can lead to higher concentrations of these agents in the microenvironment in which enamel forming cells develop, thus increasing the presence of proteins in the enamel matrix or interfering with their hydrolysis and removal, producing defects in enamel mineralization.

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