concentration of fluoride intake through water and tea consumption in qom city residents in 2012; a cross-sectional study

background: the human body gets fluorine from a variety of sources including food and water. this element is essential in order to prevent tooth decay. however, high concentrations of this element led to a lot of dental fluorosis and skeletal injuries. this study aimed to measure the concentration of fluoride in water and tea consumed in the city of qom. methods: the present study is cross-sectional analysis water and high consumed tea brand samples in the city of qom in 2012. fluoride concentrations in water and tea samples were measured by hach model dr-4000 spectrophotometer and ion selective method respectively. the data were analyzed using software spss-17. finding: according to the experimental results, the average concentration of fluoride in the drinking water obtained between 0.07-0.63mg/l. the lowest concentrations were related to domestic water treatment systems. concentration of fluoride in dry tea bag and granular tea were 138.9 and 153.71 mg/kg respectively. the concentration of this element in the tea bags and granular tea infusion were 1.29 and 1.5 mg/l respectively. conclusion: results of this study showed that the amount of fluoride in drinking water reduced by the domestic and industrial water treatment systems greatly. so drinking tea could partially compensate for the lack of fluoride in drinking water.