One in seven 12-year-olds in Germany suffer from MIH

Dental Tribune International

Wed. 9. April 2025

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VIENNA, Austria: Molar incisor hypomineralisation (MIH) has a significantly high global prevalence, affecting around 14% of the world’s population, and its causes are poorly understood. Employing data from the 6^th German Oral Health Study, a team of researchers from Austria, Germany and Switzerland has sought to determine the prevalence of MIH among younger adolescents in Germany, and their findings suggest that occurrence is decreasing, but that the condition continues to pose a significant public health challenge.

The nationwide study involved 992 young adolescents and found that 15.3% of 12-year-olds in Germany are affected by MIH. While this marks a drop from the 28.7% reported in the previous national dental health survey, the researchers cautioned that the true figure may be higher owing to the exclusion of orthodontic patients.

Using a weighted dataset to ensure national representativeness, the researchers found that MIH is more common among adolescents from families of higher education status and typically involved about three to four teeth per affected child. Encouragingly, most cases were classified as mild, 63.3% of affected teens showing only demarcated opacities. More severe enamel breakdown was rare—only 9.2% had untreated enamel breakdown, while just 0.9% had MIH-related tooth extractions—and 26.6% of the adolescents had already received restorative treatment.

Besides MIH prevalence, the study looked at the associations between MIH and caries occurrence. It found that caries experience among adolescents with MIH was relatively low: only 8.2% had a history of caries, and just four individuals had untreated decay, countering some earlier studies that suggested a high caries risk in MIH-affected teeth.

Importantly, the study also assessed oral health-related quality of life and found no significant difference between those with and without MIH. This contrasted with mixed international findings in that some research has shown that MIH affected self-esteem and well-being, but others have not.

While the current MIH prevalence places Germany within the international average (13%–14%), the study reinforces the condition’s widespread nature. The researchers noted that regional German data—from cities like Munich and Frankfurt—align closely with national figures, confirming consistent distribution.

In conclusion, the authors called for more research into the causes and prevention of MIH, emphasising that the condition, although often mild, affects a large proportion of the population and warrants ongoing public health attention.

The study, titled “Molar incisor hypomineralization: Results of the 6th German Oral Health Study (DMS • 6)”, was published on 17 March 2025 in Quintessence International.