Abstract
In the middle of the 1970s, Scandinavian dentists in school dental service reported an increasing number of children whose teeth showed a very special “new” type of enamel defect, basically characterized as a hypomineralization. The enamel was discoloured, soft, easily abraded and sensitive to dental treatment, and the enamel disturbance showed a distinct boundary to adjacent normal enamel. These enamel changes were mostly found in first permanent molars and incisors indicating that some disturbance in the enamel development had occurred early in life and during a restrictive period of time. Early epidemiological studies showed that up to 15% of the children could experience these enamel changes. However, concerning the aetiology, studies from this early time gave very few, if any, true explanations to the cause of the enamel defects. Around year 2000, the specific disturbance was given the name MIH, molar incisor hypomineralization. From that time, it could be considered that the real MIH era started. Since then, several thousands of studies on the prevalence, aetiology and treatment of this specific enamel developmental disturbance have been published. However, there remain a number of questions to be answered about the aetiology, the initiation of this enamel developmental disturbance and the clinical handling.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Pindborg JJ. Aetiology of developmental enamel defects not related to fluorosis. Int Dent J. 1982;32(2):123–34.
FDI. An epidemiological index of developmental defects of dental enamel (DDE Index). FDI Technical Report No 15, 1982.
Murray JJ, Shaw L. Classification and prevalence of enamel opacities in the human deciduous and permanent dentitions. Arch Oral Biol. 1979;24(1):7–13.
Koch G, Hallonsten AL, Ludvigsson N, Hansson BO, Holst A, Ullbro C. Epidemiologic study of idiopathic enamel hypomineralisation in permanent teeth of Swedish children. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 1987;15(5):279–85.
Weerheijm KL, Jälevik B, Alaluusua S. Molar-incisor hypomineralization. Caries Res. 2001;35(5):390–1.
Weerheijm KL, Duggal M, Mejàre I, Papagiannoulis L, Koch G, Martens LC, Hallonsten AL. Judgement criteria for molar incisor hypomineralisation (MIH) in epidemiologic studies: a summary of the European meeting on MIH held in Athens. Eur J Paediatr Dent. 2003;4(3):110–3.
Koch G. Prevalence of enamel mineralisation disturbances in an area with 1–1.2 ppm F in drinking water. Review and summary of a report published in Sweden in 1981. Eur J Paediatr Dent. 2003;4(3):127–8.
Elfrink ME, Ghanim A, Manton DJ, Weerheijm KL. Standardised studies on molar incisor hypomineralisation (MIH) and hypomineralised second primary molars (HSPM): a need. Eur Arch Paediatr Dent. 2015;16(3):247–55.
Silva MJ, Scurrah KJ, Craig JM, Manton DJ, Kilpatrick N. Etiology of molar incisor hypomineralization - a systematic review. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2016;44(4):342–53.
Steffen R, Krämer N, Bekes K. The Würzburg MIH concept: the MIH treatment need index (MIH TNI): a new index to assess and plan treatment in patients with molar incisior hypomineralisation (MIH). Eur Arch Paediatr Dent. 2017;18(5):355–61.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Koch, G. (2020). MIH: An Introduction. In: Bekes, K. (eds) Molar Incisor Hypomineralization. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31601-3_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31601-3_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-31600-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-31601-3
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)