[Bonded bridge: its place in current dentistry]

Prevention and Adhesion are the two pillars in which the present Dentistry rests. Great changes are observed in the daily professional practice, fundamentally visible in Operative Dentistry. It does seem, however, that these changes may happen in Prosthodontics, fixed or removable. Careful attention and suitable study are not given to adhesion in connection with Prosthodontics. The Adhesive Prosthetics, practised since 1970, has improved a lot during the 1980 decade. Cast structures to be bonded to enamel surface are being treated in different ways with abrasions or retentions of high relief. Microscopic retentions got through electrolytic bonding, oxidizations, metallizations or simply sand blastings are obtained these seem to affect not only nickel chrome alloys but also to noble alloys, similar to those of type IV. New and modern designs, in which the classical anchorages for inlays are combined with those used in this type of prosthetics, give determined conditions of permanency and longevity. The development of adhesive cements to metallic structures adds new benefits with regard to th e practice of this type of prosthesis, impossible to forget in this time of considerable scientific and technical improvement.