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Restorative dentistry is based on a continuous development of materials that make the best possible connection with dental tissues. Thus, dental adhesives have been researched with increasing interest. A successful adhesive system depends very much on its chemistry, as well as on the clinical procedures that must be appropriate for that type of dental adhesive. This review presents a retrospective of dental adhesives focusing on research into new types of adhesive systems that involves the use of nanoparticles. Dental adhesive systems are used in most clinical procedures related to restorative dentistry and can be classified into “etch-and-rinse” adhesives and “self-etch” adhesives. Recently, both types of adhesive systems have been modified, being loaded with different types of nanoparticles to try to improve them in terms of the thickness of the adhesive layer, but also to induce other special qualities. Therefore, in order to avoid compromising the restorative procedures by losing the restorations or by affecting the dental pulp due to cytotoxicity, several factors must be considered in choosing the adhesive system.

Keywords: dental adhesive; nanoparticles; novel adhesives