title: Fluoride concentration of drinking waters and prevalence of fluorosis in iran: a systematic review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the present study was to systematically review fluoride concentration of drinking waters and prevalence of fluorosis in Iran through systematically evaluating results of studies conducted in this regard.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this systematic review study, the required data was collected using keywords including drinking water fluoride, fluoride concentration, Fluorosis, dent*, Iran*, and their Persian equivalents through PubMed, ScienceDirect, IranMedex, SID, MEDLIB, and Magiran databases. Out of 617 articles, 29 articles were finally considered after excluding the remaining articles which were not related to the study objectives. Following precise studying and extraction, the relevant data were summarized in extraction tables and analyzed manually. Excel 2007 software was used to draw diagrams.
  
  
  RESULTS
  4434 samples of surface, ground, and tap water resources collected within 236 months during all seasons in 17 provinces of Iran were used in 29 articles determining fluoride concentrations of drinking water. Average fluoride concentration was estimated to be 0.43 ± 0.17 ppm with zero and 3.06 as minimal and maximal values. The least concentration was seen in tap water. Fluoride concentration of only three provinces was in accordance with the global standard. According to estimations, prevalence of fluorosis was 61% with only 1% as severe fluorosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite lower than standard concentrations of fluoride in drinking water, a relatively high level of fluorosis was seen in Iran.
authors.affiliation: Tabriz Health Services Management Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Saber
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Azami-Aghdash
authors.forename: Morteza
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ghojazadeh
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pournaghi Azar
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Naghavi-Behzad
authors.forename: Mostafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mahmoudi
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jamali
keywords: Concentration; drinking waters; fluoride; fluorosis; prevalence