California Registered Dental Assistant (RDA) Written Practice Exam

The main purpose of the 'dirty' area in the instrument processing area is for cleaning instruments before they are moved to the 'clean' area for further processing. This area is not used for sterilization, as sterilization will occur later in the process. It is also not used for storage or inspection, as those functions are carried out in the 'clean' area. Therefore, the correct answer is C.