Dental restorative formulations comprising two additives incorporated into the continuous phase of a dental material. One additive contains a capsule with a radical initiator. The other additive contains a capsule with one or more monomers and a radical accelerator. The dental restorative formulation is applied and polymerized to form a composite. When a disturbance occurs in the dental composite, the capsules of the additives rupture so that the radical accelerator of the second capsule decomposes the radical initiator of the first capsule to polymerize the one or more monomers of the second capsule thereby healing the dental composite. The radical accelerator controls the rate of decomposition of the radical initiator.