Is Palatal Rugae Pattern a Reliable Tool in Individual Identification in Forensic Odontology Medicine: Descriptive Study in Najran Region

Abstract

Getting an identification of a person is still a different and tough process, particularly in postmortem cases. Sometimes it is imperative to use different tools suchlike palatal rugae models which yield extremely imperative knowledge and assistance in a people's identity. Rugoscopy points out to examine the palatal rugae aim to establish a personal identity. Our research was aimed to analyze the pattern of palatal rugae in the adult population and the reliability of the palatal rugae. A total of 128 dental casts were registered in this study, in the age group of 30-60 year. The casts examined and marked carefully, based on the classification submitted by Kapali et al. Measurements of transverse and anteroposterior distance between the first and second right and left rugae were made using the image Texas Graphic program. The study showed a specific palatal rugae models in the studied adult people in contrast to other population's patterns mentioned in the literature. The three measurements; the shape, the direction and the unification proved that each cast has uniqueness of each rugae pattern. This proves that study rugae patterns have the potential to identify an individual. Further, differentiation of rugae length was not considered in our study. Palatal rugae are considered as a helping technique to get the identity of an individual.