Form 4B

The Form 4B is the most transparent and versatile dental printer in its price range. Formlabs publishes the price of every package and service plan, includes an open mode for third-party resins, and offers validated materials for most dental applications.

It is a production tool more than a single-visit crown machine. If you want models, splints, guides and dentures at volume with predictable costs, it is a very strong choice. If printed permanent restorations while the patient waits are the goal, look at systems designed for that.

What the Form 4B is

The Form 4B is the dental version of Formlabs' Form 4 resin printer, launched in April 2024. It uses the company's Low Force Display engine, a form of masked stereolithography in which each layer is cured at once, so print time depends on the height of the parts rather than how many are on the platform.

Formlabs states a 50 micron pixel size and room for up to 11 models on the build platform. A larger sibling, the Form 4BL, is aimed at labs.

Price and what is in each package

The Basic package as listed does not include wash and cure units, which a dental workflow needs. Check what the Complete package adds, or price those units separately. Add resin and replacement tanks to get the running cost. How to calculate cost per part is covered in our dental 3D printer guide.

Where the Form 4B is strong

• Speed. Formlabs states 11 aligner models in 9 minutes, 8 occlusal splints in 49 minutes and 10 restorative models in under two hours.
• Material range. Model, surgical guide, splint, denture base and teeth, castable and tray resins from the maker.
• Openness. Open Material Mode is included rather than sold as an upgrade.
• Predictable costs. Printer, packages and service plans are all priced publicly.
• Throughput. The build platform holds roughly three times what small chairside printers do, by Formlabs' estimate.

Where it falls short

• Vendor figures. The 98.7% print success rate and accuracy numbers are cited by Formlabs; we have no independent study on file.
• Post-processing. Washing, curing and support removal still take staff time.
• Consumables. Tanks wear out and are specific to the printer.
• Regulatory care in open mode. Using a third-party resin for an intraoral device is only appropriate if that resin is validated on this printer.

Alternatives to compare

• Asiga MAX UV, an open DLP printer: Asiga MAX UV vs Form 4B.
• SprintRay Pro 95 S: Form 4B vs SprintRay Pro 95 S.
• Form 4BL for larger volumes: Form 4B vs Form 4BL.

All models: dental 3D printer ranking.

Bottom line

For a practice or lab that wants one printer to cover most jobs and wants to know the cost in advance, the Form 4B is hard to beat. Budget for wash and cure units, decide on a service plan and check that the resins you need are validated for it.