Since their first appearance on the dental landscape, universal adhesives have established themselves as a great option to simplify procedures, streamline inventory, and satisfy patients. However, as the category has evolved, the available products to choose from have increased – making it more challenging than ever to choose the best option for each case. When selecting a universal adhesive, there are many factors to consider – not the least of which is clinical history and testing. (For more details on the benefits of universal adhesives, read our article:
3 Reasons to Choose Universal Adhesives.) 3M created the universal adhesive category in 2011 with the industry’s first universal adhesive, 3M™ Scotchbond™ Universal Adhesive. Since then, it has shown proven performance and has become the industry’s most researched universal adhesive, with over 400 published reviews. The new 3M™ Scotchbond™ Universal Plus Adhesive was developed to build upon the strengths of the original Scotchbond Universal Adhesive. While just recently launched in 2020, in addition to many existing in-vitro studies, substantial in-vivo studies have already highlighted its strong performance. In this article, we’ll discuss these studies and what they, and Scotchbond Universal Plus Adhesive, could mean for your practice.
Benefits of 3M™ Scotchbond™ Universal and Universal Plus Adhesive
Scotchbond Universal Adhesive laid the groundwork for an entire category of adhesives, introducing a convenient single-bottle solution with previously unseen benefits. This revolutionary adhesive provides high-strength, durable bonds in a single-step, one-coat application. It delivers true versatility:
- Suitable for all direct and indirect bonding techniques
- Works with all etching techniques, including total-etch, self-etch, and selective etch
- Bonds to virtually all dental and restorative substrates including glass ceramics, without an extra primer
- Produces virtually no post-operative sensitivity
Scotchbond Universal Plus Adhesive builds on this bonding legacy by introducing new features to give clinicians more control and predictability. As the first radiopaque universal adhesive, Scotchbond Universal Plus Adhesive reduces the risk of misdiagnosis and overtreatment due to adhesive pooling under restorations. In addition, Scotchbond Universal Plus Adhesive has the same high bond strength to caries-affected dentin as to sound dentin, enabling minimally invasive preparations. Plus, it seals caries-affected dentin by forming a welldefined, void-free hybrid layer, which helps prevent secondary decay. On top of all these benefits, Scotchbond Universal Plus Adhesive is fully aligned with 3M™ RelyX™ Universal Resin Cement – offering excellent bond strength for virtually all dual-cure resin cement indications.