For ν ∈ [0, 1] let D ν be the distinguished self-adjoint realisation of the three-dimensional Coulomb-Dirac operator −iα · ∇ − ν| · | −1 . For ν ∈ [0, 1) we prove the lower bound of the form |D ν | Cν √ −∆, where Cν is found explicitly and is better then in all previous works on the topic. In the critical case ν = 1 we prove that for every λ ∈ [0, 1) there exists K λ > 0 such that the estimate |D 1 | K λ a λ−1 (−∆) λ/2 − a −1 holds for all a > 0. As applications we extend the range of coupling constants in the proof of the stability of the relativistic electron-positron field and obtain Cwickel-Lieb-Rozenblum and Lieb-Thirring type estimates on the negative eigenvalues of perturbed projected massless Coulomb-Dirac operators in the Furry picture. We also study the existence of a virtual level at zero for such projected operators.