Purpose: A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to compare the retention rates of 3-step etch-and-rinse (3ER) adhesives with 1-step self-etch (1SE) adhesives in noncarious cervical lesions (NCCLs). The secondary outcomes were marginal integrity and marginal discoloration.
Materials and Methods: Only randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that compared 1SE with 3ER in NCCLs were included. Controlled vocabulary and keywords were combined in the search strategy for PubMed/Medline, LILACS, BBO, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, grey literature, and IADR abstracts (1990–2018). The Cochrane Risk of Bias tool (RoB) was applied to eligible studies. Meta-analyses were conducted for retention rate and secondary outcomes at different follow-up times, using the random effects model. Heterogeneity was assessed with the Cochran Q test and I2 statistics. The GRADE approach was used to assess the quality of the evidence.
Results: After the removal of duplicates, title and abstract screening, 18 studies remained. Of these, 15 studies were used for meta-analysis. Fourteen out of these 15 were judged at “unclear” risk and 1 at “low” risk of bias. No significant differences between groups were observed in the different follow-up periods for retention rates 12 to 24 months (p = 0.66), 24 to 36 months (p = 0.21) and 60 months (p = 0.96). A significant difference in marginal integrity was found at 12 to 24 months (p = 0.04) and in marginal discoloration at 12 to 24 months (p = 0.003).
Conclusion: There is no evidence that 3-step ER adhesives have better retention rates than 1-step SE adhesives in NCCLs.