New adhesives and bonding techniques. Why and when?

Nowadays, adhesive dentistry is a fundamental part of daily clinical work. The evolution of adhesive materials and techniques has been based on the need for simplicity in the step-by-step procedures to obtain long-lasting direct and indirect restorations. For this reason, recently introduced universal multimode adhesives represent a simple option for creating a hybrid layer, with or without the use of phosphoric acid application. However, it is important to understand the limitations of this latest generation of adhesive systems as well as how to use them on coronal and radicular dentin. Based on the findings in the literature, universal multimode adhesives have shown promising results, even if the problem of hybrid layer degradation due to the hydrolytic activity of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) still exists. Studies are therefore required to help us understand how to reduce this degradation.