Tessier Bone Contouring Forceps 22 cm

What Tessier bone contouring forceps are

Tessier bone contouring forceps are a bone bender for the craniofacial tray. Bone taken from the outer table of the skull, from a rib or from the hip comes out flat or curved the wrong way. Before it can replace a missing piece of forehead, cheekbone or orbit, it has to be bent to the curve of the face it is going into. A surgeon does that by hand with a heavy forceps that grips the graft and lets it be flexed a little at a time.

Google AI Mode, read on 4 November 2026, gives Tessier bone bending forceps as another name, and describes instruments made for the shaping, molding and bending of bone grafts and cranial segments during reconstructive surgery. It places them in craniofacial and reconstructive work.

Gemini, read the same day, gives craniofacial bone contouring pliers and the tessier bone contouring forceps 22cm as catalog names. It places them in craniofacial, plastic and reconstructive and facial trauma surgery, on cortical bone grafts, split calvarial plates and rib grafts. Buyers type bone contouring forceps and bone bending forceps for the class, and the short tessier bone bender for this one.

Key design features

Angled jaws with serrated faces

The jaw drawings on our listing show jaws set at an angle to the handles, with serrated faces. The serrations hold a smooth, wet graft without letting it slide as pressure goes on. The angle lets the jaws come at the graft from the side, so the hand stays off the table and clear of the bone being shaped. On a long graft, the angle also lets the jaws reach the middle of the piece without the handles striking its far end.

Heavy handles without rings

Our photograph shows long, heavy straight handles with no finger rings, and one handle carries a ridged grip. That is a plier grip, taken in the whole hand. Bending cortical bone takes real force, and the whole hand can give it in small, controlled squeezes where finger rings could not.

Twenty two centimeters

At 22 cm this is a long instrument for its job. The length puts the hand well back from the jaws, which gives leverage on thick bone. It also lets the surgeon see the curve forming in the graft while the squeeze goes on, and stop before the bone cracks. When the graft is shaped on the back table, the length never has to fit inside a wound.

Bending a graft a little at a time

Grip the graft near one edge, squeeze gently, then move the jaws along a few millimeters and squeeze again. Check the curve against the defect between moves. Small bends spread along the graft give a smooth curve. One hard squeeze in one place gives a crease, and a creased graft can split.

Which one to order

This listing carries one size, read on 4 November 2026, so there is no length or pattern to choose. What arrives is set out below. One on the tray is enough for a single graft; a team that shapes two grafts at once, such as both sides of the orbit, will want a pair so the second graft is not left waiting.

Where it is used

Gemini, read on 4 November 2026, places the Tessier contouring forceps in craniofacial, plastic and reconstructive and facial trauma surgery. These are the cases it names.

What it does, and what it must not do

The Tessier bone contouring forceps bend and shape bone outside the patient. They are not a cutter, not a rongeur and not a holding clamp.

How it compares with the rest of the family

Seven wire, bone and scalp forceps make up this part of the maxillofacial range on our site. The working ends are read off each listing’s own photograph, the options off the variations, the lengths off the name and the item code, and the prices off the order form, on 4 November 2026.

Materials and finish

Every Tessier bone contouring forceps we make is formed from high quality medical grade stainless steel. The steel itself is made to a German specification. We do not publish a grade number.

The finish is plain steel. Look at the serrations before each case: a worn face lets a wet graft slip just as the squeeze reaches its peak. Check that the jaws still meet evenly along their length when closed. If light shows between them at one end, the grip on a thin graft will be uneven, and the bone will bend more at one edge than the other. Set that one aside rather than working round it on a graft.

Caring for it

Rinse the Tessier bone contouring forceps as soon as the case ends, before blood and bone dust dry in the serrations and the joint. Open the jaws, brush the jaw faces and the joint, and wash it with the joint open. Dry it, oil the joint with instrument lubricant, and steam sterilize it on the normal cycle. Do not use it to bend a metal plate, as plate bending puts a load on the jaws they are not made for.

Ordering and wholesale

The Tessier bone contouring forceps is made by Adas Instruments in our own workshop and sold direct, which is why the price sits where it does against the catalog houses. Order one for a single tray, or in quantity for a hospital list or a distributor line. We do OEM work under your own brand and your own item numbers. Send us a sample and we will hold a run to your pattern rather than ours. Stock items ship from our own workshop. Backorder items take 10 to 12 working days to make. Every instrument carries a three year replacement warranty against manufacturing defects. Production is controlled under an ISO 13485 quality management system.

Frequently asked questions

What are Tessier bone contouring forceps used for?

They bend, mold and shape bone grafts and segments of the skull so they fit the curve of the face during reconstructive surgery. Gemini names split calvarial plates, rib grafts and cortical bone grafts. Ours is the 22 cm pattern with angled serrated jaws, at 46 dollars.

Is a Tessier bone bender the same instrument?

Yes. AI Mode gives Tessier bone bending forceps as another name in its first sentence, and tessier bone bender is the short form buyers type. Every one of these names means the same heavy forceps for bending bone grafts.

Can the Tessier forceps bend a bone plate?

No. Ours is made for bone, not metal. A metal fixation plate is bent with a plate bending tool made for it. Using the Tessier on a plate loads the jaws and the joint in a way that can spring them.

How do I bend a graft without breaking it?

Work in small steps. Grip near one edge, squeeze gently, move the jaws a few millimeters along and squeeze again, checking the curve against the defect between moves. A single hard squeeze in one place creases the graft and can split it.

Can it be autoclaved?

Yes. The Tessier bone contouring forceps are stainless steel with no coating, and they go through the normal steam cycle with the rest of the tray. Clean the serrations with a brush, oil the joint, and sterilize it with the jaws open.

Related products and categories

Three more forceps from the same tray: the Willet-Martel scalp forceps, the Dandy artery forceps and the wire twisting forceps, 15 cm. The rest of the range is under maxillofacial instruments, which sits inside our ENT instruments.