Comparison of the clinical parameters of restorations performed with total-etch and self-etch adhesive techniques

Abstract

AIM. To conduct a systematic review to evaluate the differences between the clinical performance of restorations made with total-etch and self-etch techniques.MATERIALS AND METHODS. A literature search was conducted in the Pubmed, Google Scholar and Cyberleninka databases. The research was done according to the PICO strategy. Articles from the last 10 years (2013–2023) were included in the review.RESULTS. After screening 1005 articles, 52 studies were subjected to data extraction. There were no statistically significant differences in any study regarding recurrence of caries. In 9 of 14 articles, retention was higher with the total-etch technique. Total-etch groups showed better marginal adaptation in 11 of 19 studies. 11 of 17 studies recorded the least marginal staining using the total-etch technique. None of the studies found statistically significant results for the presence of post-operative sensitivity at the end of the follow-up period. However, three studies reported statistically significant evidence of post-operative sensitivity at baseline, and after 12 months (1/2 follow-up) in the total-etch groups only.CONCLUSIONS. Both methods show effective and clinically acceptable restoration performance.