HISTORICAL ONLY  ... do not try this at home ...
~ or in the dental office, come to think of it!

Long lasting ......

.....had the crown and cement placed when she was 6 years old. She died at
age 102 with the Red Copper cement exposed through her worn gold swaged
crown. No decay was present around the Red Copper cement. The crown was
placed by Doc Holliday, famous dentist and side-kick of Wyatt Earp, a famous
US sheriff in the Old West (1870's).

Joel

http://www.copalite.com/FAQ_re_DOCS_BEST_CEMENT_and_COPALITE.htm

Tell me more about copper.

Copper in low therapeutic doses promotes pulpal health and retards decay. In
nature, copper is an inorganic mineral and is reported to rebuild collagen
fibers and retard decay. The formulation for the DOC'S BESTT products has a
very low dose of copper activated by metallic salts.

How long has Red Copper Cement been used in dentistry?

For over 200 years dentists in the US and Europe cemented gold swaged crowns
with Red Copper cement. The ingredients in the  older formulations had very
high doses of copper. The swage crowns were preformed, stamped in sheets of
gold, much like our aluminum temporary crowns are today. The gold was thin
and could be crimped easily around the tooth. The gold was 22 karat, which
is soft. Through the years the patient would wear away the gold by just
normal chewing, and the Red Copper cement would be exposed. The tooth was
still protected by the Red Copper cement. It was more durable to the forces
of mastication than the gold. The oldest recorded patient with a gold swaged
crown and Red Copper cement that we could find documentation, was a woman
who had the crown and cement placed when she was 6 years old. She died at
age 102 with the Red Copper cement exposed through her worn gold swaged
crown. No decay was present around the Red Copper cement. The crown was
placed by Doc Holliday, famous dentist and side-kick of Wyatt Earp, a famous
US sheriff in the Old West (1870's).

How is the DOC'S BESTT Red Cement different from the DOC'S BESTT White
Cement?

These cements are only different in color. They have the same properties.
The DOC'S BESTT Red Cement has a slightly greater compressive strength and
is recommended to be placed in posterior teeth. The DOC'S BESTT White Cement
is more aesthetically pleasing under anterior fillings. The new White Copper
Plus formulation rivals the physical properties of any red copper cement and
better esthetics that the White.