eng Science and Education Publishing International Journal of Dental Sciences and Research 2333-1259 2020-02-09 8 2 31 34 10.12691/ijdsr-8-2-1 IJDSR2020821 article Munther Alalowi monther.333@hotmail.com 1 Mohammed Alsalem 2 Pediatric Dentistry Department, National Guard Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Department of Developmental Dentistry, UT Health, San Antonio, USA Background: Reverse Osmosis (RO) is a method used by spiral-wound membranes to separate and extract dissolved solids, organics, and bacteria from water. Commercial stores in Riyadh are equipped with a variety of RO filters which differ in the type of membrane used and stages of filtration ranging from 1 stage and up to 7 stages. This study aimed to determine the extent to which different home RO water filtration systems remove fluoride from drinking water. Materials and Methods: Two types were most common in commercial stores in Riyadh: Puri OptimaR RO filters with cellulose-based or thin-film composite membranes. Both types have filtration capabilities ranging from 1 stage and up to 7 stages. Samples were coded from 1 to 7 based on the filter type. Samples were analysed using DR3900 Laboratory VIS Spectrophotometer with RFID. Results: Most of the water samples showed a reduction in fluoride content in the range of 0.1-0.8 ppm after passing through various RO filters. Mean difference in fluoride removal was found to be (0.4) and (0.45) ppm for RO filters with the cellulose-based or thin-film composite membrane, respectively. Conclusions: The results of the study showed that the use of reverse osmosis water filtration technologies has a substantial effect in reducing the level of fluoride in drinking water. http://pubs.sciepub.com/ijdsr/8/2/1/ijdsr-8-2-1.pdf fluoride dental caries drinking water purification