Evaluation of palatal rugae pattern in establishing identification and sex determination in Nalgonda children

Establishing individual identification of a decedent only by dental means is a mammoth task in forensic odontology. Palatal rugae's uniqueness, its resistance to heat, and stability throughout life have been proved by its use as an alternative aid in individual identification where comparison of fingerprints and other records is difficult.

The aim of the present study was to analyze the role of palatal rugoscopy in personal identification and sex determination of Nalgonda pediatric population.

The study group consisted of 100 children having mixed dentition within the age range of 8-11 years, residing in Nalgonda district. Palatal rugae pattern, shape of the incisive papillae, length of the median palatal raphae, and shape of the dental arches were analyzed using Chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests between males and females.

Wavy and curved patterns appeared to be most prevalent in both males and females but with no significant difference. The number of primary rugae in females and secondary rugae in males, on left side of the palate, was significantly more than their counterparts (P < 0.05). When rugae unification was observed, diverging type was significantly more in males than in females. Parabolic dental arch form, elliptical type of incisive papilla, and medium length of median palatal raphae was observed in majority of the subjects.

The present study hypothesizes the uniqueness of the rugae in personal identification as no two palates showed similar type of rugae in either of the genders. The rugae pattern also contributes minimally towards sex determination as there was no significant difference observed between the two variables.