Alongside the Form 3 printer, Formlabs has launched Form 3B which is specifically designed and tested for the dental industry and dental professionals. And with the launch of a new business unit called Formlabs Dental one can understand the dedication and attention the company has given to supporting the dental industry with both printers and materials. Most features of Form 3B are the same as the Form 3 printer but form 3B supports a wider range of medical and dental resins and also includes expert dental support for customers. Let’s review some features and finally look at what special resins are supported on Form 3B.
Design
The upper body case is transparent-orange in color with a white plastic bottom. The white plastic bottom case distinguishes Form 3B from Form 3 which has a black bottom case.
Low Force Stereolithography
Similar to Form 3, Form 3B uses Low Force Stereolithography (LFS), a new technology that has a flexible resin tank to reduce the peel forces on the layers being printed thus producing accurate and stronger parts.
Build Volume
The printer has a build volume of 145 × 145 × 185 mm which is sufficiently large for printing dentures and dental surgical guides.
Reliability
Form 3B has upgraded hardware for delivering reliable prints each time so that medical professionals can focus on printing and patient treatments than having to figure out any print problems. Form 3 supports a wide spectrum of medical and dental materials allowing the adoption of 3D printing into the ecosystem of dentistry.
Software
Formlabs’ own proprietary Pre-Form software allows for slicing, automatic support generation, configuring all the print settings like layer height, and selecting the material profiles. Pre-Form supports STL and OBJ file formats. Formlabs dashboard offers real-time monitoring such as print status, pause/stop, and gets information for maintenance.
Control and Connectivity
Form 3B has a 5.5” LCD touch screen control + connectivity options of Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and USB. Formlabs dashboard allows enabling SMS/Email notifications for alerts.
Specifications
Technology: Low Force Stereolithography (LFS)
Build Volume: 145 × 145 × 185 mm
Layer Thickness: 25 – 300 microns
XY Resolution: 25 microns
Laser Spot Size: 85 microns
Biocompatible Materials: Yes
Expert Support for Dental Professionals Included
Formlabs has added Dental Service Plan (DSP) which can be subscribed to for having an entire dedicated customer service team and Certified Dental Agents reachable via phone or email. The plan also includes personalized onboard training to help practitioners bring the best out of the printer. 1 year premium subscription to this service plan is included with a Form 3B printer.
Special Dental Grade Materials
Formlabs has a total of 50 dedicated material scientists working to add more dental and medical-grade materials. Below are some of the dental-grade resin materials (with variants in each) that are compatible with Form 3B printers. Formlabs has acquired Spectra (a company specialized in making material resins) which is a great step forward for strengthening the availability and compatibility of resins with the printers.
Denture grade resins- Suitable for printing denture bases and denture teeth. Both have separate resins
Biocompatible resins – Suitable for printing clear and transparent occlusal guards and splints.
Surgical Guide resins – Suitable for printing surgical guides for aiding the implant surgeries such as locating and positioning the drill tools.
Castable Wax resins are suitable for printing the patterns of crowns and bridges later used for casting metal crowns and bridges using lost wax casting techniques.
Post Processing Kits
Form3B Core Package comes with a basic Finish kit alone. But Form Wash and Form Cure can be purchased separately and they are compatible with Form 3B.
All in all, Formlabs Form 3B is a great professional 3D Printer that comes at an affordable price point. At THINKFAB, we offer Form 3B 3D Printer at a high competitive price. Click here to request for quote.
