MED | Top Study of the Department of Dental Conservation at the Faculty of Medicine

Top study by the Department of Conservative Dentistry at the Faculty of Medicine, SFU Vienna, investigates the connection between drinking water and enamel defects in children

A research team from the Sigmund Freud University of Vienna (SFU) has investigated possible links between the chemical composition of drinking water and molar incisor hypomineralisation (MIH). The results were published in the international journal Journal of Dentistry (IF 5.5).

For the analysis, anonymised data from 46,751 children from Lower Austria, who were examined as part of the Apollonia Lower Austria prevention programme, were linked with regional data on drinking water and groundwater quality. The focus was on pregnancy as a possible sensitive development phase for the mineralisation of the affected teeth.

The study showed an MIH prevalence of 3.8% in the overall population and 5.2% in children aged 8-12 years, which is relatively low by international standards. Weak statistical correlations were observed for individual drinking water parameters, while no significant associations were found for groundwater pesticide indicators.

The results indicate that environmental factors may play a subordinate role in the multifactorial development of MIH. At the same time, the study shows the potential of linking large dental screening data with environmental monitoring for future research.

Publication:
Lilaj B., Müller-Guttenbrunn C., Hönigl G.P., Seiler O., Cvikl B.
Associations between Molar-Incisor Hypomineralisation and drinking water and groundwater parameters in Lower Austria: Results from an observational study.
J Dent. 2026 Mar 6;168:106614. doi: 10.1016/j.jdent.2026.106614. Online ahead of print.PMID: 41796930 (Link)