An ultrasonic surgical instrument for cutting a tissue of a patient includes an end effector projecting from a shaft assembly, which has an acoustic waveguide configured to acoustically couple with an ultrasonic transducer. The end effector include an ultrasonic blade, a clamp arm, and a first clamp pad. The clamp arm is coupled with the shaft assembly and is configured to selectively move relative to the ultrasonic blade from an open position and toward an ultrasonic blade to a closed position. The clamp arm further includes an abutment configured to engage a portion of the shaft assembly in the closed position thereby inhibiting further movement of the clamp arm toward the ultrasonic blade. The first clamp pad thus remains offset from the ultrasonic blade to prevent the first clamp pad from direct contact with the ultrasonic blade.
