What is the most effective adhesive for attaching orthodontic bands?

Data Sources: The Cochrane Oral Health Group's Trials Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Medline and Embase were used and a search of the internet also undertaken. There was no restriction with regard to publication status or language of publication.

Study Selection: Randomised controlled trials (RCT) and controlled clinical trials (CCT), including split-mouth studies, of adhesives used to attach orthodontic bands to molar teeth were selected.

Data Extraction And Synthesis: All review authors were involved in study selection, validity assessment and data extraction without blinding to the authors, adhesives used or results obtained. All disagreements were resolved by discussion.

Results: Five RCT and three CCT were identified as meeting the review's inclusion criteria. All the included trials were of split-mouth design. Four trials compared chemically cured zinc phosphate and chemically cured glass ionomer; three trials compared chemically cured glass ionomer cement with light-cured compomer; one trial compared chemically cured glass ionomer with a chemically cured glass phosphonate. Data analysis was often inappropriate within the studies that did meet the inclusion criteria.

Conclusions: There is insufficient evidence to determine the most effective adhesive for attaching orthodontic bands to molar teeth in patients with full-arch fixed orthodontic appliances.