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The aim of this study was to compare the efficiency of a new fluorescence method for caries excavation with two conventional methods. Extracted human teeth were hemisected and 60 samples with caries at least 1 mm into dentin and 1 mm clear of the pulp were chosen. After measuring lesion depth and width, teeth were equally distributed into three groups. Each group had the same average lesion size. Teeth were reassembled and fixed with acrylic resin. Access cavities were prepared using a high-speed handpiece with a diamond fissure bur. Caries was removed using a slow-speed handpiece and stainless steel round bur. In the FACE group violet light was fed into the fiber optics of the slow-speed handpiece so that it illuminated the operating field. The operator observed the teeth through a 530-nm high-pass filter and removed areas exhibiting orange-red fluorescence. In the conventional excavation group, stained or soft dentin detected using a sharp explorer was removed from the EDJ. Soft dentin was removed from the rest of the cavity. In the Caries Detector group dentin stained with Caries Detector® was selectively removed. Excavation time was recorded for each tooth. After disassembling tooth halves and staining bacteria with ethidium bromide, samples were imaged using confocal laser scanning microscopy. Total pixel intensity (TPI) was calculated for each image to quantify the amount of stain. TPI was significantly less in the FACE group (6.76 W103) compared to conventional excavation (1.06 W107, p = 0.021) and compared to Caries Detector (5.97 W106, p = 0.046). Mean FACE excavation time (2 min 6 s) was significantly shorter (p ^ 0.001) than that of Caries Detector (4 min 47 s). It was concluded |