OBJECTIVE To evaluate the immediate microtensile bond strengths achieved with representative adhesive systems from each of the four current bonding approaches. METHODS Resin composite was bonded incrementally to flat, midcoronal dentin from 33 human molars, using the adhesives (Adper Scotchbond MP; Adper Scotchbond 1; Optibond Solo Plus; Clearfil SE Bond; AdheSE; Tyrian SPE + One Step Plus; Optibond Solo Plus self-etching; One-Up Bond F; iBond; Adper Prompt L-Pop; Xeno III) according to the respective manufacturer's instructions. The bonded specimens were immediately sectioned into sticks and underwent microtensile bond testing either immediately or after 24 h. Data were analyzed with two-way ANOVA and LSD tests. RESULTS No significant differences were found between immediate and 24-h bond strengths (p > 0.05). However, significant differences were observed among adhesives (p = 0.001). The all-in-one adhesive iBond showed statistically lower values when compared to all the other adhesives. Adper Prompt L-Pop, Xeno III, Tyrian SPE + One Step Plus and One-Up Bond F, all self-etching adhesives, were significantly weaker than AdheSE, Optibond Solo Plus, Adper Scotchbond 1, Optibond Solo Plus self-etching, Clearfil SE Bond, and Adper Scotchbond MP, which did not differ statistically from each other. CONCLUSIONS Microtensile bond strengths of representative adhesive systems from the four categories of bonding agents were not equivalent, with the lowest values recorded for the one-step self-etching adhesives. There were no differences in the bond strengths when measured immediately and after 24 h.