which has abutment members or coupling members 22 coupled to and located on the outside of internal side 13 and external side 15 which keep the absorbent member 10 in a u shaped configuration and create a tooth isolation zone 24 the abutment members 22 of the dental isolator retainment member 20 are shown in fig3 as knots tied in the floss or nylon retainment member 20 while the embodiment shown in fig3 uses knots in the floss or nylon retainment member 20 it is contemplated that any abutment type member would work in this arrangement so long as the abutment member 22 engages and keeps the absorbent member 10 in the u shaped configuration as shown in fig3 further it is contemplated that the retainment member 20 can be a one piece elastomeric member having first and second coupling members as further described below as shown in fig4 the dental isolator 2 has an absorbent member 10 with first and second ends 12 14 with the dental isolator retainment member 20 disposed therebetween wherein the dental isolator retainment member 20 is configured to fit between adjacent teeth of a patient as further described below it is further contemplated that the dental isolator retainment member 20 can be colored for identification purposes or flavored for the comfort of the patient in which it is installed referring to fig5 the reference numeral 4 generally designates a dental isolator of another embodiment of the present invention having an absorbent member.