Dental adhesion with resin composites: a review and clinical tips for best practice

Abstract

Modern restorative dentistry would not be possible without the ability to bond to tooth structure. The development of dental adhesives has a lengthy gestation, from the beginnings around 1950, to the latest generation: modern universal adhesives, which were introduced during the 2010s. The foundation for these developments was a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of adhesion to the tooth structure, and to restoration materials. Typically, the performance of an adhesive does not depend on the use of a single ingredient, but on an overall balanced and optimised formulation that contains various components with different roles, such as functional adhesive monomers. While a wealth of literature exists on adhesives that have a long and successful clinical history ('gold standards'), some universal adhesives have also accumulated a lot of scientific evidence while offering benefits like ease of use, low technique sensitivity and versatility. To achieve reliable results with a modern adhesive, several tips should be kept in mind regardless of the product, which result in a homogeneous adhesive layer, proper cure and ultimately high bond strength. Although high performance is already achieved with the adhesives currently available, this is still an exciting area of ongoing research.