Defluoridation techniques - a critical review

Abstract

Fluoride in drinking water plays a vital role in dental health. Due to excessive fluoride in water, enamel loses its luster. At lower concentration, it guards our teeth against cavities but at higher concentrations imparts fluorosis in varying concentrations. Excess fluoride in drinking water is reported from more than 35 countries around the globe with India and China. In countries like India, the severe contamination of drinking water with excess fluoride acquired the dimensions of a social economic rather than a public health problem triggering defluoridation research.