Looking for a large-format 3D printer for your dental lab or aligner production? Compare Formlabs Form 4BL with the Carbon L1 side by side and reduce costs by 50%.
Formlabs Form 4BL
Complete Cost
The $16,249 starting price includes all the essential tools required to start printing, access to the powerful PreForm software and online Dashboard, as well as Open Material Mode. The Form 4BL Complete package for $29,899 also includes custom-developed automated post-processing tools and a three-year premier dental service plan for a turnkey solution.
Buy from Formlabs via sales or the online store, or purchase through one of our distribution partners.
Cost per Aligner Model
Printer Hardware: $0.015
Resin: $0.280
Consumables: $0.023
Software: Free
Labor : $0.100
Service: $0.011
Materials
Supported Dental Applications & Materials
A wide range of applications on a single printer, validated, tested, and directly supported by Formlabs.
Open material mode is included, enabling freedom to print third-party resins.
Ease of Use
Simply insert a new cartridge and resin tank to change materials. Additional resin tanks may be purchased for $249 and include reusable lids for easy storage.
Resin Cost
Dental labs can save up to 45% through bulk purchase discounts, with even greater savings on 5 L containers designed for use with the Resin Pumping System.
Technology
Print Technology
LFD is a new generation of masked stereolithography (MSLA) 3D printing where reduced peel forces lead to incredible surface finish and unmatched accuracy. Formlabs Light Processing Unit is a long-life component, and should last at least one year under average use. That lifetime may be closer to three months in a high-volume production environment.
Print Speed
Up to 80 mm/h with Fast Model Resin, 24 mm/h on average across all materials. 32 clear aligner models in 14 minutes for up to 1000+ models within an 8-hour working day.
Most existing customers average 80 models per hour equivalent to 640 clear aligner models per 8-hour shift.
XY Resolution
Pretuned anti-aliasing for subpixel resolution resulting in superior fine and sharp feature performance.
Light Source
Backlight Unit with 145 uniform-wavelength (LEDs) and custom lens array of plano-convex lenses for highly collimated and uniform light even at high power delivering 16 mW/cm² optical power intensity to the cure plane.
Build Volume
35.3 x 19.6 x 35 cm
13.9 x 7.7 x 13.8 in
24.2 L
Software
Formlabs’ free PreForm Dental software is the golden standard when it comes to ease of use. Intuitive functionalities and presets for key indications such as models, splints, and surgical guides help users set up prints automatically, taking care of the orientation, support generation, and material selection in one click.
You can also use the online Dashboard to manage a fleet of printers, monitor prints, track materials and consumables, and work with your team.
Tailor the workflow to your business needs, systems, and production environment with Formlabs Production Pipeline, an automation solution that streamlines every step from design submission to getting your models printed on a fleet of Formlabs dental 3D printers without human intervention.
Support
All Formlabs hardware comes with a one-year warranty and email support provided by a dedicated staff. Purchase a Dental Service Plan to extend your coverage further and gain access to additional benefits like hot-swap replacements, dedicated phone support, training, and more, so you can stay focused on growing your business.
Organizations operating five or more printers at a single location can take advantage of the Production Service Plan, which is designed to support high-volume production environments.
Learn More About Formlabs Service Plans
Ease of Use
Resin Dispensing
Pre-tuned support settings with light touch supports are available for every material to facilitate support removal.
Formlabs offers a dedicated aligner manufacturing workflow featuring automated washing as well as specialized spinning and curing equipment within a validated production environment.
Consistent printing and a wider variety of material options, including highly-filled materials. Debris detection.
Part Removal
Quick, easy, and tool-free with Flex Build Platform. Prevents part breakage and potential injuries while removing parts.
15 minutes until your first print.
Reliability
“A system that offers >99% reliability, API integration to remove bottlenecks, and certified VOC-free resins to protect our team is, quite simply, the ideal solution for us.” Pablo Kehyaian, CEO and Founder of Secretaligner
A new Release Texture and a durable Flexible Film Resin Tank minimize peel forces during printing. Plus, the built-in Resin Level Sensor and Z-Axis Force Sensor ensure consistency and performance.
In the event of an issue, error messages display QR codes that lead to support articles to get you back up and running as quickly as possible.
Typical Dimensional Tolerances
Restorative models (Precision Model Resin at 50 µm layer height)
95% of the surface within ±50 μm of the CAD model
Clear aligner models for thermoforming (Fast Model Resin at 160 µm layer height)
95% of the surface within ±100 μm of the CAD model
Company
Formlabs brought SLA 3D printing to the desktop in 2011 and SLS printing to the benchtop in 2021, and has become the market leader in both technologies, selling more than 130,000 printers. Form 4B is a 4th generation product, powered by a proven technology that has been used to print over 15 million dental parts.
Carbon L1
Complete Cost
Carbon 3D printers are only available as a subscription, meaning you do not own the printer outright and it must be returned at the end of the subscription. Support is included in the subscription price.
Pricing is not transparent and customers must contact Carbon to receive a quote.
*Price is to the best of our knowledge and may vary.
Cost per Aligner Model
Printer Hardware: $0.2
Resin: $0.370
Consumables: $0.033
Software: $0.140
Labor : $0.100
Service: Included in printer lease
Reliability
Supported Dental Applications & Materials
Currently limited to model printing with UMA 20 and DRP 10 as well as Sportsguards with Keyprint Keyguard.
Only certified third-party materials are available. Keyprint Keyguard is currently the only certified third-party material available.
Ease of Use
Each Carbon lease includes one tank and additional tanks cost $4,000-$6,000 a year. If using one printer for multiple materials, change out can take time for cleaning.
Resin Cost
To receive the highest resin discount on Carbon's DPR 10, a user must take shipment on 208 L (55 gal) drums that require a pump costing $4,000.
Materials
Print Technology
Carbon’s digital light projection (DLP) 3D printers project a sequence of UV images through oxygen-permeable optics to cure resin into solid parts.
Print Speed
Carbon is vague about print speed and throughput, but based on the best available information, we estimate that the L1 can produce around 73 models per hour, equivalent to 584 clear aligner models per 8-hour shift, achieving a lower throughput than a single Form 4BL.
XY Resolution
Lower resolution, resulting in inferior details and surface finish.
Light Source
4K light engine (Gen 1 DLS)
Company
41 x 25.6 x 46 cm
16.1 x 10.1 x 18.1 in
48.28 L
Build Volume
Carbon’s Automatic Operation (AO) suite software offers file preparation and part nesting.
Carbon’s Automatic Print Preparation (APP) allows automatic print preparation and costs $9-12 on average per printer per day.
Software
Integrated service package includes customer support and preventative maintenance.
Ease of Use
Resin Dispensing
Carbon offers a dedicated aligner manufacturing workflow featuring automated washing as well as specialized spinning and curing equipment within a validated production environment.
Manual mixing is required periodically. The lack of resin mixer limits material options. Debris detection.
Part Removal
Tools required to remove parts. Risk of part breakage or injury while removing parts. Not compatible with flexible build plates.
Carbon used to require that they install their printers, but Carbon L1 printers can now be installed by users over the course of hours.
Cost of Ownership
Typical Dimensional Tolerances
Restorative models
94% of the surface within ±50 μm of the CAD model
Clear aligner models for thermoforming
96% of points within ±100 μm of the CAD model
Technology
Founded in 2013, Carbon previewed their first printer in 2015, and has since gone on to develop a line of professional resin printers combining proprietary hardware, software, and service. Unlike other companies, Carbon 3D printers are only available as subscriptions, rather than purchasing the printer outright.
Do you have more questions about the differences between these solutions?
Explore how to calculate Operational Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and compare Form 4BL to legacy systems like Carbon L1.
See and feel Formlabs quality firsthand. We’ll ship a free sample part to your lab or practice.
More throughput, less labor. Produce 32 models in 14 minutes*.
32 Clear Aligner Models at 160 μm
80 Occlusal Splints at 100 μm
28 Restorative Models at 50 μm
Repeatable accuracy you can count on.
Maximum uptime and yield. Large format 3D printing you can depend on.
Formlabs optimization engineers put hundreds of printed parts to the test to ensure each material performs to the most reliable standards, right out of the box.
Maximum uptime and yield. Large format 3D printing you can depend on.
Formlabs optimization engineers put hundreds of printed parts to the test to ensure each material performs to the most reliable standards, right out of the box.
Kreimer Dentallabor
“We are currently using the Form 4BL for all our model production, and the Form 4Bs for biocompatible applications. With the Form 4BL's build platform, which is around three times larger, we can now produce three times more models with a single user intervention.”
Stephan Kreimer,
MDT, Kreimer Dentallabor
Protec Dental Laboratories
“Each week, we conduct an in-house validation test where we scan a selection of models and compare them against the original digital files. The results consistently fall within our defined specifications, demonstrating the reliability and repeatability of our process.”
Manuel Stanescu
CAD-CAM Ortho Manager, Protec Dental Laboratories
Synergy 3D
“Over the last year, we really had a chance to observe the Form 4B and Form 4BL. In terms of speed, reliability, print fails, we've just had nothing but success — especially compared to other printers which have multiple mechanical failures weekly or bi-weekly that we have to service, re-calibrate, call support teams… It's really such a stark difference.”
Milos Markovic,
Vice President of CAD/CAM and Implantology, Synergy 3D
With 75+ support and service staff and 150+ engineers, Formlabs backs its products with the strongest team in 3D printing.
The Form 4BL Ecosystem
Complete Your 3D Printing Experience
