SummaryThe aim of this investigation was to evaluate the efficacy and convenience of decayed dentine removal with N‐monochloro‐DL‐2 aminobutyrate (CARIDEX) in all classes of cavities. Fifty‐seven patients, each with two teeth having similarly sized carious cavities, participated in this study. One cavity in each patient was treated with the chemomechanical CARIDEX technique and the other cavity was treated with conventional mechanical drilling. The cavities were restored with either amalgam, composite or glass ionomer restorative materials. The time taken for access and caries removal was noted and the efficacy of caries removal with each technique was evaluated. The chemomechanical caries removal technique was effective in removing 90–100% of decayed dentine in 98% of the cavities treated. Multiple regression adjusted access and caries removal time to account for volume of caries removed. This adjusted time was operator dependent, and ranged from 4 to 10 minutes longer for CARIDEX than for the conventional technique. Ninety‐three per cent of patients preferred the chemomechanical method of caries removal over the conventional technique (highly significantP<0·001). Even though the chemomechanical removal of caries is slower than the conventional technique, the efficacy of CARIDEX and its high patient acceptance provides a viable alternative method for dentinal caries removal in all classes