Anaesthetic agents for day-case surgery ideally should have a short duration of action. This study was designed to compare the efficacy and safety of mivacurium and vecuronium for healthy adults undergoing dental day-case surgery. Thirty fit healthy adult patients (ASA I or II) randomly received either mivacurium 0.15 mg kg−1 (n = 15) or vecuronium 0.1 mg kg−1 (n = 15). Anaesthesia included propofol, fentanyl, nitrous oxide and isoflurane. Maximum depression of T1 was greater in the vecuronium group (99.8%) than in the mivacurium group (98.3%). There was no difference between grade of intubation at 2 min between the two groups, although patients receiving vecuronium had a more profound block at the time of intubation than those who received mivacurium (89.2% vs. 78.9%). Recovery to 10% T1 was faster in the mivacurium group (11.2 min vs. 33.1 min). All patients in the vecuronium group received neostigmine at the termination of surgery. The neostigmine evoked recovery index in the vecuronium group (4.39 min) was less than the spontaneous recovery index in the mivacurium group (6.78 min). One patient in the mivacurium group had a low plasma cholinesterase concentration (0.43 ku L−1); recovery times however, fell within the 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the group. There was no correlation between cholinesterase levels and recovery time. Mivacurium may be the more appropriate agent for dental day-case surgery because it has a shorter duration of action and does not generally require antagonism with an anticholinesterase.