Adhesion in Restorative Dentistry

Bonding agents play a crucial role in the effective sealing and retention of resin-based composite restorations, which have been increasingly placed and replaced by dentists in many countries around the world. In fact, direct adhesive restoration with composite resins has become the procedure of choice for the treatment of anterior and posterior teeth. However, long-term durability of those restorations may be compromised due to progressive loss of the integrity of adhesive interfaces. This means that no adhesive strategy is free from technique sensitivity. The specificity and proportion of different constitutive molecules, the interaction between them and substrates can differ greatly from one class of adhesive system to another, which can affect bond quality. Protocol simplification has been an inevitable trend that has boosted the use of self-etching and universal systems in adhesive dentistry. However, there is a lack of randomized clinical trials to prove the effectiveness of these systems. This chapter gives an overview of the most important issues in dental adhesion and adhesive systems, as well, discussing their composition and clinical use.