Custom Dental Lab Boxes
Custom dental lab boxes for cases traveling between practice and lab — crowns, aligners, dentures, impressions — with an insert that holds the work and a pocket for the slip, from 100. Dieline and price the same working day.
A small box that carries someone's teeth across town
- Board
- E flute case boxes; B flute for solo transit; wrapped grayboard finished-case boxes
- Builds
- Crash-lock carton, lidded tray, rigid presentation box; reusable option
- Insert
- Die-cut foam cavities, molded pulp cradle, board frame for trays
Get a price for Dental Lab Boxes
Send the size and quantity — we reply the same working day with a price, a dieline and a date. Artwork optional at this stage.
- Free dielineThe flat drawing comes with the quote, before you commit.
- Proof before pressNothing is printed until you have seen it laid on the dieline.
- Die kept for reordersTooling is paid once. Every reorder skips straight to press.
- Quoted in four marketsUS, UK, Canada and Australia, in the delivery currency.
Which box for which case
| Crowns, bridges, inlays | Small rigid or E-flute box with a foam insert; a model in a second cell |
|---|---|
| Aligners and retainers | Slim carton or a branded case box; one cell per tray |
| Dentures | Lidded box with a shaped pulp or foam cradle; damp-safe liner |
| Impressions | Corrugated case with a tray cradle; sealed bag inside; rigid enough not to distort |
The insert that keeps the work still
- Foam with die-cut cavities for crowns and small restorations — one cavity per unit, lidded.
- Molded pulp shaped to a denture or a model, plastic-free.
- A board frame that holds an impression tray by the handle, off the floor of the box.
- A clear bag around wet or biological items, sealed before it goes in the insert.
The slip pocket and the label panel
Every case travels with a lab slip, and a slip loose in a box gets lost or wet. A pocket inside the lid holds it; a panel on the outside takes the courier label and a return label for the trip back. A "fragile — dental case" mark and a "this way up" are printed, not stuck on. Our pharmaceutical and medical boxes cover the related clinical packaging.
Board and the courier
Lab boxes go by courier or by the lab's own van, both ways, many times. E flute for a small case box that goes inside a courier satchel; B flute for a box that travels alone; a rigid wrapped box for the finished case delivered to the patient. A crash-lock base and a tuck lid, or a lidded tray for a box that is reused.
Say whether the box is single-trip or reusable. A reusable lab box is built heavier and left plain inside so it can be wiped.
The finished case as a presentation
A lab delivering a finished denture or a set of aligners to a practice, and through the practice to the patient, gains from a box that looks like the price of the work. A rigid box with the lab's mark, a lined insert, and a card explaining care is the version most private labs run for finished cases.
Dental Lab Boxes — specification
The rows that are specific to this build first, then what applies to every job we run. Anything not listed is a question, not a limit — send the brief.
This build
- Board
- E flute case boxes; B flute for solo transit; wrapped grayboard finished-case boxes
- Builds
- Crash-lock carton, lidded tray, rigid presentation box; reusable option
- Insert
- Die-cut foam cavities, molded pulp cradle, board frame for trays
- Pockets
- Lab slip pocket in lid; courier and return label panels outside
- Lab mark, fragile and orientation marks; plain wipeable interior on reusable
- Bagging
- Clear sealed bag for wet or biological items
- Minimum
- 100 boxes
On every job
- Print process
- Digital below about a thousand, offset above it. One side or both, with spot colors where a match has to hold.
- Color
- CMYK as standard. Uncoated and kraft stocks print lighter and warmer; a spot color is the only exact match.
- Tolerance
- Cutting plus or minus 1 mm, creasing plus or minus 0.5 mm, confirmed on a plain sample before the run.
- Tooling
- A cutting die per size, made once and kept. Foil and emboss dies per artwork, also kept.
- Food contact
- Food-grade board and inks where the carton touches food, with the interior left plain.
- Sustainability
- Mono-material board wherever the product allows; recycled-content and FSC stocks; no claim printed the pack does not earn.
- Artwork
- Vector PDF or AI, 3 mm bleed, 4 mm safe area, fonts outlined. We check every file and send a proof before press.
- Dieline
- Supplied free with the quote, before you commit. Yours whether or not you order.
- Sample
- A plain unprinted sample at the finished size on request, for fit and construction.
- Reorders
- Skip the tooling and go straight to press at a lower unit price.
- Lead time
- Quoted with the price against your fill date rather than promised before we have seen the spec.
- Markets
- United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia — priced in the delivery currency, freight included.
Boards and films we build dental lab boxes on
A folding carton is one sheet of board, so the board is the product. These are the stocks we run for cartons, what each is good at, and where it lets you down.
Natural kraft
Unbleached folding board. Warm, hides marks, costs least. Mutes color — one or two flat colors print well, photographs do not.
250–350gsm sleeves; 14–24pt cartonsWhite SBS
Solid bleached sulfate: bright, coated, the retail carton standard. Takes accurate color and every finish. Shows scuffs sooner than kraft.
14–24ptWhite lined chipboard
A recycled gray core under a white printing face. Cheaper than SBS and slightly duller; the back of the sheet stays gray.
16–24ptKraft-look coated
A kraft face over a coated inner. The natural look with a barrier behind it — the answer where oil, grease or moisture would mark plain kraft.
14–20ptRecycled-content board
Post-consumer fiber with a gray-brown cast. Right for outers and inner components; poor for bright whites and photography.
16–22ptMicro-flute E and F
A fine corrugated layer where a carton needs structure it cannot get from board — a large panel, a heavy product, a box that ships alone.
E 1.5 mm; F 0.8 mmUncoated and textured
No clay coat, or a linen or laid grain. Print reads softer and warmer; a deboss goes deeper. Photographs do not sit well on it.
280–350gsmMetallised and pearlescent
A metallic or pearl face for a shelf that needs to catch light. Costly, and it fights a photograph — a mark or a pattern suits it better.
16–20ptNot sure which? Say what goes in it and where it is sold — the material follows from that. Our notes on recycled, recyclable and compostable cover which claims each stock can honestly carry.
- 01
Send what you have
A dimension, a photograph beside a ruler, or the product itself. No technical drawing needed — that part is ours.
- 02
We quote and draw
A price, a dieline and a date come back together. If a different build would suit the product better, that is in the reply too.
- 03
Approve the dieline
The flat drawing is yours to check: which panel is the front, where the folds fall, how deep the cavity really is.
- 04
Artwork on the dieline
You place your design on the flat we sent, or we place it for you, and you see a proof before anything goes to press.
- 05
A sample if you want one
A plain unprinted sample at the finished size shows fit and construction — the things a drawing cannot.
- 06
Cut, printed, shipped
The die is cut once and kept, so every reorder skips the tooling and goes straight to press at a lower unit price.
Format
Vector PDF or AI where possible. Raster artwork at 300dpi at final size, in CMYK.
Bleed
3 mm past every trim line, so a fraction of drift on the cutter never leaves a white edge.
Safe area
Keep type and anything important 4 mm inside the cut and away from every fold.
Color
Convert to CMYK before sending. Uncoated stock prints lighter; a spot color is the only exact match.
Fonts
Outline them or supply the files. A missing font substitutes silently and the proof will not match.
Barcodes
On a light, matte, unvarnished patch with the quiet zone clear — a code on gloss fails the scanner.
Not set up that way? Send it anyway — fixing a file is a short conversation, and we check every one before press. Our guide to preparing print files covers each point.
Every finish here is a decision about light on a shelf, not about luxury.
Matte lamination
Reads considered, hides marks, takes a ballpoint.
Gloss lamination
Lifts color; glares under shop lighting.
Soft-touch
Velvet in the hand; shows fingerprints in a bag.
Hot foil
Real metal leaf — the most reliable premium signal.
Emboss / deboss
Shape with no ink; works in the dark.
Spot UV
Gloss shapes on a matte field.
Uncoated kraft
Warm, natural, mutes color.
Textured stock
Texture in the paper; cannot scuff off.
Not sure which suits the shelf it sells from? Say where the product is sold and we suggest one — our notes on specialty finishes show them on real boxes.
Sizing a folding carton so the die comes out right: dental lab boxes
Measure the product, not the box it is in now. A carton is built around what has to fit inside it, assembled — cap on, lid fitted, folded if it folds — at its widest point in each direction. Send those three numbers and say which is which.
- Length x width x height
- Internal, always. External dimensions include the board and are what the carrier measures, not what the product needs.
- Clearance
- 2–3 mm a side for a snug fit; more where an insert or void fill goes in. A carton cut exactly to the product is slow to pack and transmits every knock.
- Board thickness
- Heavier board takes internal space from the product. It matters most on small boxes, where four walls of 24pt is a real share of the cavity.
- Varies between batches?
- Glass, textiles, molded parts and cured soap all do. Measure several and build to the largest.
- Cutting tolerance
- Plus or minus 1 mm on folding board. Confirmed on a plain sample before the run.
- Units
- Metric or imperial, as long as you say which. Mixing them in one spec is where mistakes happen.
Not sure your numbers are right? Send the product dimensions rather than the box dimensions and we work the box out — the full method is in our guide to measuring for a box.
Interactive · five steps · no sign-up
Build your Dental Lab Boxes in 3D
Pick a shape, type a size, choose a board and a finish. The preview on the left redraws as you go, and the spec lands with us exactly as you set it.
Frequently asked questions
Got a question about dental lab boxes? The answers below cover what we get asked most. If yours is not here, send it with a brief, message us on WhatsApp, or call +1 503-461-4788 — we reply the same working day.
What sizes do you make?
Small crown boxes around 60 mm square, aligner cartons, denture boxes, and impression cases sized to the tray. Send the largest item and we size from it.
Can the insert hold several crowns?
Yes, foam with one cavity per unit and a lid, so units do not touch or chip.
Where does the lab slip go?
In a pocket inside the lid, so it travels with the case and stays dry.
Can the box be used for the return trip?
Yes, with a return label panel printed on the outside and a heavier board if it is reused.
Is it safe for impressions?
Yes: a board frame holds the tray by the handle off the floor, inside a sealed bag, in a box rigid enough not to distort the impression.
What is the minimum order?
100 boxes.
Can it be plastic-free?
Yes, with a molded pulp cradle and a paper liner. Wet items still need a sealed bag.
Does it ship flat?
Cartons and board frames do. Foam and pulp inserts ship as they are, and rigid presentation boxes arrive assembled.
Can the box carry the lab's branding?
Yes, printed with the mark and the handling marks. Finished-case boxes are usually the branded ones.
Can the interior be wiped?
On a reusable box, yes — the interior is left plain and coated so it can be cleaned.
Do you make patient-facing boxes?
Yes, a rigid box with a lined insert and a care card for a finished denture or aligner set.
Do you ship outside the US?
Yes, to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, quoted in the delivery currency.
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