The association between palatal rugae pattern and dental malocclusion.

Farheen Fatima,Mubassar Fida,Attiya Shaikh

doi:10.1590/2177-6709.24.1.37.e1-9.onl

Farheen Fatima, Mubassar Fida + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1590/2177-6709.24.1.37.e1-9.onl

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Abstract

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Palatal rugae complete its development during early intrauterine life, whereas dental malocclusions in permanent dentition establishes several years into the post-natal life. Objective: The objective of present study was to determine if there is an association between the palatal rugae pattern and Angle’s classes of malocclusion. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on pretreatment dental casts of 184 patients. The sample was divided into the following groups: Class I, Class II div. 1, Class II div. 2, and Class III. The number of palatal rugae was recorded, bilaterally. The length, pattern and orientation of three anterior-most primary rugae on both sides were recorded. Results: The mean age of the study sample was 17.8 ± 5.4 years. The mean number of the palatal rugae was 11.18 ± 2.5, with significant differences among different malocclusion groups. The length of the first rugae on left side and third rugae on both sides varied significantly among the groups (p< 0.05). Similarly, the pattern of palatal rugae was also found to be significantly different among the malocclusion groups. The right sided rugae did not have any significant difference in the orientation in different malocclusion groups; however, the left sided rugae showed significant differences among the four malocclusion groups (p< 0.001). Conclusions: The current study showed subtle differences in the palatal rugae pattern among the Angle’s classes of malocclusion. Similarly, the length and orientation of some rugae were also found to be significantly different between malocclusion groups.

Highlights

Palatal rugae complete its development during early intrauterine life, whereas dental malocclusions in permanent dentition establishes several years into the post-natal life
The measurement error was evaluated and the results showed fair to excellent agreement between the two sets of reading in the assessment of rugae number and length, whereas pattern and orientation assessment showed moderate to excellent agreement (Tables 1 and 2)
Significant differences were found in the number of rugae among malocclusion groups (Table 3)

Summary

Introduction

Palatal rugae complete its development during early intrauterine life, whereas dental malocclusions in permanent dentition establishes several years into the post-natal life. This imparts them a special role in the forensic Dentistry, having potential implications in the process of human identification.[1,2,3] In Orthodontics, they are used as stable reference landmarks for the superimposition of pre- and post-treatment cephalometric tracings.[4] Palatal rugae appear during the third month of intrauterine life and occupy most of the length of palatal shelves These structures form a series of anatomical folds on the anterior part of the palatal mucosa, behind the incisive papilla on each side of the median palatal raphe.[5] The number varies from 4 to 6 on each side, and they appear before the fusion of the palatine shelves. Their role has been established in deglutition and oral sensation; their precise role in sensorineural function is not entirely understood.[9,10]

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