Necessity of water fluoridation in Iran: A review on water fluoridation and prevention of dental caries

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Water fluoridation is one of the methods for prevention of dental caries. The purpose of this study was to review water fluoridation in the world and in Iran, and its effectiveness in reported literature. METHODS: This paper is not a systematic review, but reviews the literature. “Water fluoridation” was used as a keyword for searching (electronic and hand search) in specialist databases. Many studies show that fluoride ion is lower than its optimal level in almost of all of Iran’s provinces. RESULTS: Dental caries is prevalent among Iranian children and adults. Water fluoridation has chosen as a method for prevention and control dental caries in most of the countries. This method can be of a great for help to the Iran health policies to find a solution in Iran. CONCLUSION: The cities in Iran need a careful and scientific program for water fluoridation according to their climate.