With technological development, some alternatives to rotary cutting instruments have been introduced for caries removal and cavity preparation. High power lasers are now widely used following their introduction for use in dental hard tissues in 1964. The erbium lasers (Er:YAG and Er,Cr:YSGG) remove enamel and dentin through a process called thermomechanical ablation. During this process, the infrared laser energy is absorbed by the subsurface water that is confined by the hard tissue matrix, and this quickly leads to “micro‐explosions” that remove the mineralized tissue. Regarding the irradiated dentin, microscopic analysis displays a rough surface, free of a smear layer, with open dentin tubules and protruding peritubular dentin. In contrast, the mechanical preparation of dental tissues with rotary cutting instruments produces a thick smear layer that covers the whole surface. Erbium lasers (2940 nm and 2780 nm) are interesting alternatives for selective removal of carious tissue and cavity preparation.