Background:  TempBond® Clear (Kerr) is a popular and well-accepted temporary cement which often shows undesirable effectiveness in retaining a restoration.  Life® (Kerr) is used as a calcium-hydroxide base, yet some dentists have experienced better results with this material as a cement in terms of quality of retention.  However, there is a lack of studies proving the retentive capabilities of this cement.  Objective:  The purpose of this project was to compare the retentive capacity of Life®, a calcium-hydroxide base, as a temporary cement, with a commonly used cement, TempBond® Clear.  Methods:  20 extracted third molars were prepared for a standard MCC restoration.  Provisional crowns were constructed for each using Jet® acrylic resin.  10 crowns were randomly cemented with Life® and 10 with TempBond® Clear.  An orthodontic wire was fastened to each crown and shaped with a retentive loop for attachment to an Instron® mechanical testing machine.  The cemented temporary crowns were removed with the Instron® universal testing machine at 0.5 mm/min.  Mean and standard deviations of the force required to remove the crown were calculated.  Results:  Mean separation force for TempBond® Clear equaled 21.1 N and 47.8 N for Life®.  Welch's ANOVA analysis showed that differences in the retentive ability of the two samples were significant (P < .001).  Conclusions:  Life® exhibited better retentive abilities than TempBond® Clear.  Life® may provide dentistry with a more effective temporary cement that also has the beneficial qualities of a calcium-hydroxide base.