The need for adhesive materials

To achieve such compatibility the primary requisite is that the restorative adheres to tooth material. This concept of adhesion is hardly to be foimd in the literature of the 1920s and 1930s. For that reason we find no attempt at developing tooth adhesives in that period. Adhesion was, apparently, only recognized as a desirable property in the 1950s. It seems for some reason to be associated with the introduction of simple resins as dental restorative materials. Although they were not a great success, attempts were made to bond them to tooth material. 

The Conference on Adhesive Restorative Dental Materials held in Indianapolis in 1961 (Phillips Ryge, 1961) may be considered as ushering in the era when dental adhesives were actively sought. Buonocore (1961) summed up the new thinking. 

The lack of adhesion of available filling materials to tooth structure is considered as one of their shortcomings. A solution to this problem would indeed represent a milestone in dentistry. 

thought became directed towards developing adhesive dental materials, an approach that has led to considerable successes and has revolutionized restorative dentistry. 

---