Purpose: The aim of our in vitro study was to investigate the marginal leakage of class V cavities prepared by conventional diamond bur and Er:YAG laser. Materials and methods: 45 single rooted intact extracted human teeth were used. They were randomly assigned into three groups, dependent on the preparation technique: Group I (n=15) – diamond bur + total-etch technique; Group II (n=15) – Er:YAG laser + total-etch technique; Group III (n=15)– Er:YAG laser + laser etching. Microleakage was assessed according to the depth of dye penetration along the restoration at x 15 magnification. Results: None of the procedures investigated on our study completely eliminated the microleakage. The extent of dye penetration was lowest in the laser-treated and acid-etched group (Group II). Conclusions: The results of our study revealed that the laser irradiation can modify the morphology of the cavity walls and increase the bond strength with the composite filling.\n Keywords: Er:YAG laser, cavity preparation, microleakage, composite

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