Surgical forceps can be either dressing forceps or tissue forceps. Tissue forceps have teeth to grip tissue. The tissue forceps have one or two fine teeth on the tip of the beak or have a raised angled platform for proper grasping of the most delicate tissues. Their tip extensions form a W shape when held in a closed position. They are so designed that the tissues experience minimum trauma during the surgery.

Importance of tissue forceps
These are often used in oral surgery to grasp and stabilize loose tissue ends during suturing procedures. They are used to hold tissue being excised. Dressing forceps are also a type of tissue forceps. They are used for dressing wounds and pealing off the dressing. They have scissor-like handles for grasping lint, drainage tubes, etc. Again they may be curved or straight tipped with serrated beak. In some cases it may be smooth.

Types of tissue forceps
There are various types of tissue forceps, and some forceps bear the name of the originator of the design, like Adson tissue forceps. Some important types of tissue forceps are: