What is the most effective adhesive for attaching orthodontic bands?

The Cochrane Oral Health Group's Trials Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Medline and Embase were used and a search of the internet also undertaken. There was no restriction with regard to publication status or language of publication.

Randomised controlled trials (RCT) and controlled clinical trials (CCT), including split-mouth studies, of adhesives used to attach orthodontic bands to molar teeth were selected.

All review authors were involved in study selection, validity assessment and data extraction without blinding to the authors, adhesives used or results obtained. All disagreements were resolved by discussion.

Five RCT and three CCT were identified as meeting the review's inclusion criteria. All the included trials were of split-mouth design. Four trials compared chemically cured zinc phosphate and chemically cured glass ionomer; three trials compared chemically cured glass ionomer cement with light-cured compomer; one trial compared chemically cured glass ionomer with a chemically cured glass phosphonate. Data analysis was often inappropriate within the studies that did meet the inclusion criteria.

There is insufficient evidence to determine the most effective adhesive for attaching orthodontic bands to molar teeth in patients with full-arch fixed orthodontic appliances.