1Associate Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, Aarupadai Veedu Medical College & Hospital, Puducherry
2MBBS Student, Aarupadai Veedu Medical College & Hospital, Puducherry
3Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Aarupadai Veedu Medical College & Hospital, Puducherry
4Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Chettinad Hospital & Research Institute, Kelambakkam
5Tutor, Department of Forensic Medicine, Aarupadai Veedu Medical College & Hospital, Puducherry
6PG Student, Department of Physiology, Sri Venkateshwara Medical College Hospital and Research Center, Puducherry
*Corresponding author: Dr. Ashutosh B Potdar, Associate Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, Aarupadai Veedu Medical College & Hospital, Puducherry, email id: drashupot@gmail.com
Online published on 31 August, 2017.
Rugoscopy involves the study of palatal rugae pattern for human identification.
To study the number, shape and pattern of palatal rugae. To verify the uniqueness of palatal rugae pattern and to check if any pattern shows gender association
Maxillary impressions in the form of dental casts were obtained from a total of 100 student subjects comprising of 50 males and 50 females of the age ranging from 17–22 years after getting informed consent. Observations regarding the direction, length and shape of palatal rugae were recorded for each subject in the study tool and statistically analyzed.
Majority showed presence of backward directed rugae. Males showed predominantly forward directed rugae while females showed backward directed rugae and this difference was statistically highly significant. The most common type of palatal rugae based on the length was fragmentary. Curved shape was the most common shape in overall study population. The male subjects showed curved shape as predominant shape while the female subjects showed straight shape as most common.
The pattern of palatal rugae in our population is unique to each individual and those can be helpful to determine the sex of a person.
human identification, palatal rugae, gender, sexual dimorphism
