Case pan
Also called: lab pan, work pan, case tray
A case pan is the tray or box that holds one dental lab case as it moves through the lab. It carries the models, the impression or printed parts, the work in progress and the paper lab slip. Labs often colour-code or label pans by due date, so a technician can see what is urgent.
How it shows up between practice and lab
The pan is the lab’s original tracking system. Where the pan sits tells the team which stage the case has reached.
It has limits. A pan cannot answer the phone, so when a practice asks where a case is, someone has to walk the floor and find it.
Digital cases weaken the link further. A scan has no pan until something is printed, so the case sits in an inbox for the first part of its life.
Labs that run a board alongside the pans keep both. The pan holds the work, and the board says where every pan is.
Read more in running a dental lab production board and why dental lab cases go missing, and how to stop it.
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