Dentine bonding agents--a review of adhesion to dentine

Although constant innovation has improved the performance of dentine adhesives, the true mechanism of resin adhesion to dentine is still not clear and the optimal dentinal surface pretreatment has yet to be determined for adhesive integrity of resin to dentine. The integrity of the collagen fibrils left exposed upon acid etching seem to play a major role in the mechanism of adhesion and intermingling of the adhesive monomers with the filigree of collagen fibers or hybrid layer should be considered the paramount dentine bonding mechanism. Definite trends are emerging but more research is necessary before general conclusions can be made about the functions of different bonding agents. The all-in-one self-etching/self-primer bottle systems are relatively new to the market and need more research before they can be advocated as the agent of choice.