abstract – The surface morphology of fibers, vessels, nerves and cells located on the surface of 29 human teeth was studied in the scanning electron microscope. The length of the torn principal fibers was about 250 μm. They tapered with the widest diameter near the cementum. The principal fiber bundles were composed of smaller elements with a diameter of 4–5 μm which were composed of fibrils with a diameter up to about 5,000 Å. Adjacent to the cementum the principal fiber bundles interlaced with thin fibrous elements, and thus a fibrous coating covered the root surface. The size of the interlacing fibrils varied, and those with a diameter of 500 Å exhibited a cross‐striation with a periodicity of 600 Å. The surface of the vessels had a dense appearance. Nerve fibers and nerve endings were observed. In one case there was a peculiar branching of structural elements that could be identified as nerve tissue. Cell cultures of chicken fibroblasts were studied for comparison with cells from the root surface with regard to shape and size. Both had a rough surface, a central nuclear region and long, fairly straight celltails.