Abstract
Objective: To analyse the role of palatal rugoscopy in person identification and sex determination. Material and Methods: The study group consisted of 30 children having mixed dentition within the age range of 8-15 years. Based on the length of the rugae, it was classified as primary (>5mm), secondary (3-5mm) and fragmentary ( 0.05) among boys over girls (boys - 224 and girls - 213) and circular rugae pattern and secondary rugae were more among girls (88) over boys (56) (p<0.05). Converging unification pattern was more among boys (17) over girls (11), whereas diverging pattern was more among girls (19) over boys (13), but there was no difference for wavy and curved patterns between boys and girls. These results were confirmed with standardized canonical discriminant function coefficient test. Conclusion: The present study hypothesizes the uniqueness of the rugae pattern in person identification as no two palates showed similar type of rugae in either of the genders. Palatal rugae revealed a specific pattern in unification among boys and girls. Discriminant function analysis enabled sex determination of individuals.
Highlights
Human identification is one of the major fields of study in forensic science because it deals with the human remains and aims at establishing the identity
Results of the present study indicates that there was higher primary rugae patterns (p>0.05) among boys over girls and circular rugae pattern and secondary rugae were more among girls (88) over boys (56) (p
Results of the present study indicates that there was significantly higher primary rugae patterns (p>0.05) among boys over girls and circular rugae pattern and secondary rugae were more among girls (88) over boys (56) (p
Summary
Human identification is one of the major fields of study in forensic science because it deals with the human remains and aims at establishing the identity. Dental investigation in human identification remains one of the most reliable and frequently applied methods by forensic odontologist, predominantly by the comparison of antemortem and postmortem records. Forensic dental identification mainly involves determining gender, age, ethnic background, community etc of the individual [1]. Forensic odontology is a speciality in dentistry, which occupies a primary place within the total spectrum of methods applied to medico legal identification. DNA, fingerprint and dental record comparisons are the most commonly used scientific methods of forensic identification. A useful method of human identification in these circumstances is by examining the palatal rugae pattern (palatal rugoscopy) [2]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
