Morphological study of palatal rugae in children ranging 12-14 years

Background: In forensic odontology, identification of individuals is a challenging task. Various forensic parameters like bite marks, teeth marks on left over food, lip prints etc. are being used in identification of individuals. Palatal rugae is one such forensic parameter due to its uniqueness, consistency in shape throughout life and post mortem resistance. Objective: This study aims at identification and comparison of different morphological rugae patterns in male and females. Methods: A total of 100 plaster casts of children of age group 12-14 yrs were taken and equally divided between both sexes. The rugae on these casts were marked with sharp graphite pencil and their length was measured using magnifying glass and divider. The rugae were examined for morphological characteristics and classified according to Thomas and Kotze Classification of rugae shapes. Comparison was made between males and females for the various shapes of palatal rugae i.e. straight, wavy, circular, curved, convergent and divergent. The data was put to statistical analysis. Results: The study revealed a statistically significant difference between shape of rugae i.e. curved rugae were found higher in males and wavy rugae were found higher in females Conclusions: Palatal rugae hold potential as an additional method of sex determination in conjunction with other forensic methods