Association between psychological factors and molar–incisor hypomineralization: A cross‐sectional study.

Background: Molar–incisor hypomineralization (MIH) is a developmental enamel defect characterized by opacities from white to brownish color. A suspected multifactorial etiology has been suggested, whereas psychological factors during pregnancy have only been limitedly analyzed. Aim: We assessed the association between stress, depression, and anxiety in pregnancy and the presence of MIH in children at a later age. Design: Using a cross‐sectional Web‐based questionnaire, we included 384 mothers who had children aged 6 and 12 years from Pasto, Colombia. Data were collected between October 2021 and March 2022. Sociodemographic variables; maternal and child factors related to prenatal, natal, or postnatal problems; and psychological factors such as stress and symptoms of anxiety and depression in pregnancy were inquired. Utilizing photographs depicting MIH lesions, mothers assessed their child's MIH status. A directed acyclic graph (DAG) analysis was performed to create causal assumptions, and logistic regression models were estimated to evaluate these assumptions. p‐value was set at p <.05. Results: The prevalence of MIH was 33.3%; 12.8% of the participants exhibited hypomineralization in both molars and incisors. DAG analysis and logistic regression models determined that MIH (present or not) was associated with symptoms of maternal depression (ORadj = 3.26, 95% CI: 1.92–5.52, p <.001), and MIH (both molars and incisors) was associated with symptoms of maternal anxiety (ORadj = 3.49, 95% CI: 1.80–6.76, p <.001). Conclusion: Psychological factors, among others, were significantly associated with the presence of MIH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]