The current state of adhesive dentistry: a guide for clinical practice

Adhesive dentistry is key to minimally invasive, esthetic, and tooth-preserving dental restorations. These are typically realized by bonding various restorative materials, such as composite resins, ceramics, or even metal alloys, to tooth structures or other materials with composite resin luting agents. For optimal bond strengths and long-lasting clinical success, however, these material and tooth substrates require their respective pretreatment steps, based on their natures and compositions. Today, dental adhesion is used in almost all dental specialties. This article summarizes key aspects and guidelines for clinical success with adhesive dentistry and summarizes information presented at the 5th International Congress on Adhesive Dentistry.