Morphological Pattern of Palatal Rughae among Alodescents

Palatal rugae have been considered relevant for human identification due to its stability, and is equivalent to the fingerprint, in that it is unique for each individual. It is known as Palatal rugoscopy or Palatascopy. In the fields of forensic odontology, palatal rugoscopy is still in infancy as till date as the study of palatal rugae has not been extensive. Although palatal rugae appear to possess the features of an ideal forensic identification parameter as uniqueness, postmortem resistance. Hence palatal rugae can be used in postmortem identification provided an antemortem record exists.

Study of Morphological pattern of palatal rugae among adolescents from Tamilnadu Dravidian population was performed.

100 subjects were selected from different geographical areas between 17–19 years with equal distribution from undergraduate students of Sree Balaji Dental College and Hospital, Chennai, India. Maxillary impressions were made using Alginate impression material. 100 casts were made with Type III dental stone using vibrator. Rugae patterns were highlighted with sharp graphite pencil using magnification loop.

Total distribution of rugae shapes of the studied samples, showed a maximum distribution of Line pattern 436 (32.8%), followed by Sinuous 352 (26.3%), Point 184 (13.9%), Composed 152 (11.34%), Curve 125 (9.39%), Angle 77 (5.88%), Circle 6 (0.45%). The distribution of individual rugae patterns among Males and females demonstrated the uniqueness of rugae pattern in different individuals, thus it is an effective reliable source of Identification provided ante-mortem records are available.

This study clearly demonstrated the uniqueness of rugae pattern in different individuals, thus it is an effective reliable source of Identification provided ante-mortem records are available.