This paper reviews the developments of dithiooctanoate monomers and acidic adhesive monomers, and their roles in multi-purpose primers and adhesives in promoting adhesion to multiple substrate materials. Novel dithiooctanoate monomers exhibited excellent bonding to precious metals and alloys when compared against conventional sulfur-containing monomers. Newly developed phosphonic acid monomers, endowed with a water-soluble nature, enabled sufficient demineralization of dental hard tissues and thus improved bonding to both ground enamel and dentin. The optimal combination for bonding to dental hard tissues and precious and non-precious metals and alloys was 5.0 wt% 10-methacryloyloxydecyl 6,8-dithiooctanoate (10-MDDT) and 1.0 wt% 6-methacryloyloxyhexyl phosphonoacetate (6-MHPA). For bonding to dental porcelain, alumina, zirconia, and gold (Au) alloy, a ternary combination of silane coupling agent, acidic adhesive monomers, and dithiooctanoate monomers seemed promising. The latest development was a single-bottle, multi-purpose, self-etching adhesive which contained only acidic adhesive monomers and dithiooctanoate monomers but which produced strong adhesion to ground enamel and dentin, sandblasted zirconia, and Au alloy.