Where Should the Handpiece Docking Station Live: Cleaning or Packaging?

Where Should the Handpiece Docking Station Live: Cleaning or Packaging?

Short answer... the handpiece docking station (lubrication and flushing unit) belongs on the cleaning side (non-sterile / decontamination side), not the packaging side.

Long answer... see below... because this is where audits often get murky.

Framing the Discussion

Before discussing where a handpiece docking station should be located, it is worth pausing to ask a more specific question:

What actually comes after handpiece cleaning and lubrication?

It is easy to assume the answer is packaging.
But that assumption skips a critical step.

Cleaning and lubrication do not mean a handpiece is ready to be packaged.

There is a required pause in the workflow: inspection.

Inspection is the moment where the handpiece is deliberately assessed to confirm that internal flushing and lubrication were effective, that excess lubricant has been expressed, and that the handpiece is dry, functional, and appropriate to proceed.

This is also the point at which excess oil must be wiped away using a lint-free towel. Once a handpiece reaches the packaging station, it is already too late for this step. Packaging areas are not supplied with lint-free towels, nor should they be, as introducing wiping materials at that stage compromises the controlled nature of the packaging environment.

For this reason, inspection of handpieces must include verification that no excessive lubricant remains prior to packaging. This inspection step is not optional, and it cannot be absorbed into packaging without increasing contamination risk.

When inspection is treated as its own deliberate step — separate from both cleaning and packaging — workflow decisions become clearer. Equipment placement becomes logical. And the role of the docking station is correctly understood as part of cleaning, not packaging.

Start With the Function, Not the Label

A docking station:

• Flushes internal lumens
• Removes residual debris
• Applies lubricant
• Expresses contaminants and fluids out of the handpiece

That is cleaning activity.

Even though the handpiece may appear clean externally, the internal channels are actively being flushed, and whatever exits the handpiece during this process must be assumed to be non-sterile.

If debris, lubricant, moisture, or effluent is being expelled, the task cannot logically occur in a packaging or sterile preparation zone.

Why It Does Not Belong in the Packaging Area

The packaging side exists to support:

• Inspection
• Assembly
• Packaging
• Preparation for sterilization

These steps assume that:

• Gross debris has been removed
• Cleaning is complete
• Contamination risk is minimized

Placing a docking station in this zone creates several problems:

• It blurs the boundary between cleaning and preparation
• It introduces fluids, aerosols, and lubricant mist into a controlled area
• It increases the risk of cross-contamination to packaging materials
• It contradicts the intent of a one-way workflow

In simple terms:
You should never be flushing debris in the same space where you are sealing sterile pouches.

What About Workflow Concerns?

A common counterargument is convenience... "it's closer to where we package."

But workflow efficiency cannot override contamination control.

A clean, logical flow looks like this:

1. Handpiece arrives contaminated
2. External cleaning
3. Internal flushing and lubrication at the docking station
4. Handpiece transferred forward
5. Inspection and packaging
6. Sterilization

The docking station is the final step of cleaning, not the first step of packaging.

An Often-Overlooked Detail: Lint-Free Towels and Timing

An important practical consideration is the use of lint-free towels to remove excess lubricant following handpiece flushing and lubrication.

This step must occur prior to packaging, while the handpiece is still within the cleaning workflow. Packaging areas are not designed or supplied with lint-free towels, nor should they be. Introducing towels into the packaging zone creates a new contamination risk and undermines the controlled nature of that space.

Once a handpiece reaches the packaging station, it is already too late to address excess lubricant. At that point, the expectation is that cleaning and preparation steps are complete, and the handpiece is ready for inspection, packaging, and sterilization without additional manipulation.

This further reinforces that lubrication and wiping of handpieces belong on the non-sterile (cleaning) side, immediately before transition into the inspection and packaging zone.

Visualizing the Boundary Correctly

Think of the docking station as an extension of:

• The ultrasonic
• The sink
• Manual or automated cleaning steps

Not as an extension of:

• The packaging zone
• Preparation surfaces

You would not place an ultrasonic cleaner in the packaging area. The same logic applies to a lubrication and flushing unit.

Defensible Discussion and Bottom Line

The handpiece docking station is a cleaning device, not a packaging accessory.

Placing it on the cleaning side:

• Aligns with process logic
• Protects the packaging environment
• Reduces confusion
• Supports a safe, one-way workflow

Michelle Aubé (Simmonds) RDH, maxill Dental Hygiene Educator

Michelle is a Dental Hygiene Speaker, Consultant and Educator with over 30 years of experience as a RDH and 4 years as a CDA. She is a professor and curriculum writer at Fanshawe College in both the dental hygiene and continuing education program sharing her knowledge in IPAC, professional practice, periodontal classification, social justice, advocacy and clinical applications. She is maxill's CE and IPAC Director and wears various IPAC hats including auditing federal correctional facilities dental clinics for IPAC standards. Michelle is ODHA's Regional Board Director and authors articles for CDHA's OH Canada professional publication and continues to practice clinically in London ON. She is a CDHO IPAC Remedial Facilitator and IPAC Expert Opinion. Her strong ethics has allowed her to serve on the Discipline Committee at Algonquin College and hold the position of a CDHO Quality Assurance Assessor for 7 years. As a lifelong learner she is completing a BA in Adult Education at Brock University. Her diverse dental background and current status as a practicing RDH offer a fulsome and realistic view of dental-related topics. As a passionate champion for the profession, she advocates for equity, professional autonomy, and systemic change, true grassroots leadership at its finest.

Michelle can be reached at [email protected]