RESUMO
To measure the prevalence of Molar Incisor Hypomineralization (MIH), its severity and association with dental caries among public school children from Belém/PA, Brazil.Material and Methods:This is a cross-sectional study conducted with children enrolled in three public schools of Belém, which were selected by simple random sampling. MIH diagnosis was carried out according tocriteria of the European Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.Results:Among the 260 students that met the inclusion criteria, 56.92% were male and 43.07% female. The average age was 10.22 years. Of these, 8.84% (n = 23) had MIH, but there was no statistically significant difference in this prevalence between sexes (p = 0.6244). The most affected teeth were the upper first permanent molars, followed by lower first permanent molars and upper permanent central incisors. About 43.48% of students had at least one tooth with severe defect in enamel and 30.43% of students with MIH presented dental caries in the affected teeth. Conclusion:Severe MIH was not the most prevalent among schoolchildren, but the relationship with dental caries found demonstrates the importance of knowledge about diagnosis and treatment of enamel defects, which should be part of promotion and prevention actions in oral health due to its epidemiological impact in the demographic change of dental caries...