Relevance of in vitro tests of adhesive and composite dental materials. A review in 3 parts. Part 3: in vitro tests of adhesive systems.

In the third part of this review of laboratory testing, methods of testing adhesive systems are evaluated. Test set-ups that are used to analyze the restorative material in combination with the adhesive system are presented. Currently, there is no standardized protocol available for the evaluation of adhesives. This complicates any direct comparisons of values between different testing institutes. Therefore, the statistically evaluated ranking of the different adhesives is more important than mean values. Depending on the testing institute, a correlation between bond strength measurements and clinical outcomes may exist. Qualitative analysis of adhesive/tooth interaction can help explain the functioning of a system, but the depth of penetration of the adhesive cannot predict bond strength. Indirect bond measurements or analyses of the interactions of adhesive and composite materials, such as dye penetration or marginal analysis, do not correlate or correlate only partially with clinical findings. Adhesive systems should be tested in vitro and compared to a well-known standard adhesive before they are used in the clinic. Water storage of specimens for several months before testing increases the predictability of the bonding performance of the tested adhesive.