Rugoscopy Categorisation in An Outpatient Population -An Institutional Study

Abstract

Introduction: 'Palatal rugoscopy,' which is the investigation of palatal rugae.Palatal rugae have been likened with fingerprints and are novel to an individual.It can be of importance in edentulous cases and furthermore in specific conditions where there are no fingers to be considered, for example, consumed bodies or bodies that went through serious decomposition.Legal odontology includes dental specialist's role in helping legitimate and criminal issues. Palatal rugae are very much shielded from injury by their unique site and they are insulated from heat by the lips,tongue and the buccal fat pads. MATERIALS AND METHODS:The sample size was equally distributed among both the sexes in the age range of 17–30 years. Then an alginate impression of the maxillary arch is made and in the dental stone and the study model was prepared.The rugae was delineated by using a graphite pencil, marked and recorded, and classified into curved, wavy, straight and circular.RESULTS AND DISCUSSION : The result shows that circular pattern is predominant in both the males and the females. In which the wavy shaped rugae are more predominant in females than the males. Following the wavy shape, it was found that curved rugae is more than the straight and circular rugae in the males, and in females following the wavy rugae it was found that straight and curved shaped rugae occurred with the same frequency followed by circular rugae. CONCLUSION: Palatal rugae in dentistry can be used for human identification such as traffic accidents, terrorism and mass disaster where as through fingerprints or dental arches, which is difficult to find.