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Updated: May 19, 2026
Finite Element Analysis Model for Assessing Expansion Patterns from Surgically Assisted Rapid Palatal Expansion
Published on: October 20, 2023
The evidence of the rugoscopy effectiveness as a human identification method in patients submitted to rapid palatal
Ana A Barbieri1, Raquel A Scoralick, Suely C M Naressi
1Department of Biosciences and Oral Diagnosis, School of Dentistry of São José dos Campos, UNESP - Univ Estadual Paulista, Av. Francisco José Longo, 777 Jardim São Dimas, São José dos Campos, São Paulo CEP - 122450000, Brazil. anameliabarbieri@gmail.com
Abstract:
The objective of this study was to demonstrate the effectiveness of rugoscopy as a human identification method, even when the patient is submitted to rapid palatal expansion, which in theory would introduce doubt. With this intent, the Rugoscopic Identity was obtained for each subject using the classification formula proposed by Santos based on the intra-oral casts made before and after treatment from patients who were subjected to palatal expansion. The casts were labeled with the patients' initials and randomly arranged for studying. The palatine rugae kept the same patterns in every case studied. The technical error of the intra-evaluator measurement provided a confidence interval of 95%, making rugoscopy a reliable identification method for patients who were submitted to rapid palatal expansion, because even in the presence of intra-oral changes owing to the use of palatal expanders, the palatine rugae retained the biological and technical requirements for the human identification process.
