Abstract: A holder retains a plurality of dental instruments used in a single dental procedure together in a separate group during cleaning and prior to sterilization. The holder includes first and second pivotally connected, opposed tong members, each formed of a handle portion and a jaw lever portion. Each jaw lever portion includes a cross arm extending laterally from the handle portion and terminating in a pair of arcuate shaped jaws at outer ends of each cross arm. The jaws in one tong member concavely oppose the jaws in the opposite tong member to form the closed opening between the jaws when the first and second tong members are moved to one of a plurality of separate closed positions.