Er:YAG laser is one of the most suitable laser systems used in pediatric dentistry. The objective of the study was to estimate the duration of cavity preparation by an Er:YAG laser versus conventional techniques and to compare the time required for Er:YAG laser cavity preparation and a combined preparation by Er:YAG laser and a hand excavator. Eighty four children between the age of 3 and 16 years with bilateral matched pairs of carious deciduous or permanent molars participated in this study. In each patient one of the 2 cavities was prepared conventionally, the other with an Er:YAG laser or combined Er:YAG laser plus hand excavator. A stopwatch was used for recording of the time spent on cavity preparation for each treatment. In permanent teeth the mean duration of Er:YAG laser treatment (6.04 min) was longer than the conventional treatment (3.55 min) (p<0.001) and the combined treatment by the Er-YAG laser plus excavator (4.47 min) consumed more time than the conventional techniques (3.85 min) (p<0.05). In deciduous teeth no statistically significant difference between the mean duration of laser preparation (4.98 min) and the mechanical means (5.61 min) was observed (p=0.05) and the combined treatment (2.87 min) was shorter than the mechanical means (4.14 min) (p<0.05). Therefore using of a hand excavator can be recommended as an additional instrument in order to reduce the duration of Er:YAG laser cavity preparation in dental caries treatment of children.

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