Material Evidence

As the practice of dentistry has evolved to become more minimally invasive and preparations have become more conservative and less retentive, adhesive protocols have largely replaced traditional cementation as the cornerstone of restorative dentistry. However, despite its ubiquity, adhesion remains one of the more poorly understood concepts among many clinicians. With each generation of adhesive materials, manufacturers have endeavored to further simplify protocols while expanding the number of substrates that can be predictably bonded to and improving bond strengths. This has resulted in the development of a wide range of materials for an equally wide range of indications and increased the overall complexity of adhesive dentistry.

With so many products, optimizing restorations requires more than just reading the instructions; it requires an evidence-based understanding of how adhesives work in order to select the most appropriate system and technique for each clinical situation. This is where clinical research comes into play. Research is needed not only to validate adhesive systems but also to improve our understanding of how their components interact with the natural tissues and other restorative materials, which facilitates the development of adhesives and protocols that are even more ideal.