Patent ID: 7165970

Claim:
A dental instrument comprising: a first arm; a second arm pivotally coupled to said first arm about a pivot axis, said first arm and said second arm being pivotal with respect to each other in a plane generally orthogonal to said pivot axis; each of said arms having a proximal portion, a medial portion, and a distal portion, said proximal portions defining hand grip portions, and said arms being pivotally connected at their medial portions; a spring biasing said distal portions of said arms toward each other; each of said distal portions comprising a first portion and a prong portion depending from said first portion; and said prong portions comprising back-to-back generally C-shaped portions and spaced apart tines, said C-shaped portions defining a pair of seats, said tines depending from said seats and having spaced apart distal ends adapted for engaging a rubber-dam clamp, and said seats providing contacts for a dental retaining ring.