Which structure is composed of fibrous connective tissue and helps suspend a tooth in its socket?

• A. Cementum
• B. Pulp
• C. Periodontal ligament
• D. Alveolar bone

Answer: (C)

The periodontal ligament is the fibrous connective tissue that suspends a tooth in its socket. It stretches between the cementum on the tooth root and the surrounding alveolar bone, with collagen fibers—Sharpey's fibers—anchoring into both surfaces. This fibrous linkage absorbs and distributes chewing forces, helps keep the tooth stable, and provides sensory feedback. Cementum, while it serves as the attachment surface for these fibers, is mineralized tissue, not itself the suspensory connective tissue. The pulp is the tooth’s soft inner tissue, and the alveolar bone forms the socket walls, but neither is the fibrous apparatus that suspends the tooth.