The invention relates to use of a material containing a polymerizable monomer or oligomer, the material exhibiting desirable shrinkage compensation upon polymerization. The material contains an expansion agent having a cleaving moiety with the capacity to be cleaved or fragmented by a catalytic reaction, e.g., acid catalysis. The cleavage, by increasing the number of molecules in the material, causes expansion that compensates, at least in part, for shrinkage induced by polymerization of the monomer or oligomer. The expansion agent is capable of providing compensation such that no more than 0.4%, advantageously no more than 0.2%, volume shrinkage per molar concentration of polymerized monomer functional groups occurs, where such compensation is performed at relatively low temperatures of less than 40.degree. C.