Patent ID: 7816423

Claim:
A method of using a preformed dental product, the method comprising: providing a preformed dental product comprising a hardenable self-supporting structure comprising a composition that includes a resin system, a filler system, and an initiator system, wherein the composition is in the form of a hardenable, self-supporting, malleable structure having a first semi-finished shape, which is sufficiently malleable to be formed into a second shape at a temperature of about 15° C. to 38° C.; forming the self-supporting, malleable structure having a first semi-finished shape into a second shape custom fit to a patient shape at a temperature of about 15° C. to 38° C.; and hardening the self-supporting structure having the second shape to form a dental product; wherein the term “self-supporting” means that the composition is dimensionally stable and will maintain its shape without significant deformation at room temperature for at least about two weeks when free-standing and in the absence of conditions that activate the initiator system and in the absence of an external force other than gravity; wherein the preformed dental product is one that is provided to a dentist in a desired semi-finished shape, which is a facsimile of what the final shaped article is to be and is not the shape of a rope, globule, or sheet.