In a message dated 97-09-25 02:06:42 EDT, Bernt Damm writes:

> you will need: ... Dentists infra-red light

I believe that Bernt meant to write "Dentists' ultraviolet light".  Most
of the fast-setting tooth repair materials used by dentists cure with one
or the other form of ultraviolet light.  A (very) cheap substitute is
sunlight which cures these preparations within about a minute.  This
material is excellent but -- as he says -- very expensive to buy and to
use.

Another, much less expensive and very good material for this purpose
which requires no special equipment is a dental product called Duralay.
It is a 2-part acrylic material (powder and liquid) used for making
temporary fillings and models of tooth sections, etc.  It comes in a
number of shades of white and ivory -- #69 looks a lot like the kind of
ivory I'm familiar with -- and it cures in about five minutes.  It can
then be handled like a very hard plastic.  It can be dyed with powdered
aniline dies to any color.

Duralay is totally dimensionally stable, can be polished to any finish,
and has only one drawback: It does not have the characteristics of glue.
That is, it will not adhere to anything very strongly.  When I use it (I
dye it and use it to make 'invisible' tortoise-shell repairs) I provide
a mechanical means of holding the repair in.  Either I saw fine slits at
angles that oppose each other thereby locking the material in once set or
I drill angled holes for the same purpose.

Generally, after the material is inserted so that it is a little higher
than the original part, I place a thin piece of glass over the repair
and weigh it down with a small weight.  This produces (after it is set)
a smooth, flat surface just a little proud of the surface of the original
part.  This can now be scraped with a single edged razor blade and then
sanded flush and polished.

Hope that you find this useful.

Frank Metzger