Abstract: This invention presents “respect” for the adjacent tooth by providing an instrument and method that presses the matrix band against the adjacent tooth, and presents inventive examples of the concave shape of its prongs (to match the convex contour of the adjacent tooth) and the hinged couplings that translate well the clinician's personal efforts to press against the adjacent tooth in what are otherwise, awkward ergonomic angles. By moving the mechanical levers of his own body more proximate the treated tooth and by using a stabilizing arm that establishes a fulcra point of stability in the tooth adjacent to the treated tooth, the clinician can better achieve the objectives of good physiologic fit of the matrix band with the adjacent tooth.