Usefullness of palatal rugae patterns in establishing identity: Preliminary results from Bengaluru city, India

Palatal rugoscopy is the name given to the study of palatal rugae. Rugae pattern are widely considered to remain unchanged during an individual's lifetime. The rugae pattern has the potential to remain intact by virtue of their internal position in the head when most other anatomical structures are destroyed or burned. Moreover, rugae pattern are considered to be unique similar to fingerprints and are advocated in personal identification.

The purpose of the study is to establish, individual identity using palatal rugae patterns.

The study group consisted of 100 study models all of whom were subjects above 14 years old. Martin dos Santos' classification was followed based on form and position to assess the individuality of rugae pattern.

Each individual had different rugae patterns including dizygous twins and the rugae patterns were not symmetrical, both in number and in its distribution.

The preliminary study undertaken here shows no two palates are alike in terms of their rugae pattern. Palatal rugae possess unique characteristics as they are absolutely individualistic and therefore, can be used as a personal soft-tissue 'oral' print for identification in forensic cases.