2 more particularly the resilient plastic memory yields in response to contact between the instrument 15 and the second cam surfaces 22 to allow the external instrument 15 to be inserted between the jaws 40 and 42 position p 1 to p 2 and likewise to be removed from the jaws 40 and 42 position p 2 to p 1 in the closed position the jaws 40 and 42 are capable of holding an external instrument 15 in a fixed position in the open position the jaws 40 and 42 are positioned such that the external instrument 15 is not held in a fixed position allowing it to be inserted or removed in the illustrated embodiment the jaws 40 and 42 are carried by an insert 12 alternately the jaws 40 and 42 may be integral with a bite block 10 fig5 a 5 i detail a second embodiment t 2 of the gripping tool shown in fig1 a and its use in the embodiment illustrated in fig5 a the gripping element 17 consists of a jaw assembly 18 the jaw assembly 18 comprises a first jaw 40 and a second jaw 42 carried by the insert 12 the jaws 40 and 42 are similar to the jaws 40 and 42 in fig4 a 4 e but need not contain first cam surfaces 20 or second cam surfaces 22 in this embodiment the actuator mechanism 21 includes a resilient plastic memory in the jaws 40 and 42 and a cam mechanism 24 coupled to the jaws.