Lasik is better as far as results are concerned but riskier as you have an actual flap cut in the front of your eye that is lifted like a door - the laser is applied to the corneal surface then the flap is positioned back....
it sticks in less than 5 mins... however you are at risk of dislodging it for up to 2 weeks if you rub your eyes.
LASEK is more painful as the epithelial surface is effectively lasered directly onto it..... meaning its more sensitive for a lot longer.
There is no evidence that WAVEFRONT is better and it is very much OVER SOLD by the big companies such as ULTRALASE and OPTICAL EXPRESS as they want to sell sell sell....
In fact the complication of WAVEFRONT is that it can make the surface abberations that it claims to smooth out TOO CORRECT and your vision will actually be worse. Your brain over years has become used to slight abberations (bumps and troughs in the surface / imperfections) and has compensated for them.... If you suddenly correct them and get rid of all of them then you might find that its not as effective.
If you want more advice on this please contact me and i could put you in contact with the surgeon that did my lasik.
I found him through a consultant at my hospital - and in my opinion word of mouth recommendations in this type of situation counts a lot more than statistics and marketing.!
JONATHAN