The characteristics and performance of dentine bonding agents

Several attempts have been made to synthesise dentine bonding systems, but low bonding strength, increased variance, toxicity and poor hydrolytic stability were some of the disadvantages excluding them from being widely approved. However, many dentine bonding systems are considered to be biocompatible and have become commercially available. These adhesives are thought to have one or two bifunctional agents where one part of the molecule is intended to bond to the inorganic part of the dentine (calcium ions of the apatite), or to the organic part of the dentine (amino and hydroxy groups of the collagen), and the methacrylate part of the molecule is intended to copolymerise with the restorative resin. This review demonstrates that further work is needed to achieve the synthesis of novel dentine bonding agents which bond chemically to dentine by strong covalent bonds, and which are hydrolytically durable and non-toxic to the oral environment.