Association of Palatal Rugae Pattern in Gender Identification: An Exploratory Study

The present study's aim was to assess the pattern of palatine ridges/rugae to identify gender.

This study consists of a total of 50 participants (25 males and 25 females). Participants of the age range of 20 to 50 years were selected from the outpatient department. According to the shape and size of the patient's arches, maxillary impression trays were selected using alginate, and casts were poured subsequently. With the help of a sharp graphite pencil, the palatine ridges were delineated to make it prominent, and on either side of the midline, the number of rugae was counted and the length measured. Using these parameters, the pattern of rugae was determined. Data were analyzed using independent sample t-test. The level of significance was set at 5%.

Males had more number of palatal rugae (mean 5.96 ± 0.88) compared with females (5.24 ± 0.77), and there was a statistically significant association between them. The mean length of palatal rugae was more in males (6.25 ± 1.15 mm) than females (5.16 ± 1.40 mm), and it was found to be a statistically significant association. The straight pattern was more common in both males and females (2.56 ± 1.08, 2.32 ± 0.85 respectively) than other patterns.

This study concluded that straight rugae pattern has been found to be the most common pattern in both genders. However, the mean number of straight rugae pattern and length is slightly more in males than females.

The most challenging tasks in forensic medicine is human identification. Dental records, dactylogram, and comparing deoxyribonucleic acid are the widely used techniques in mass disasters, but these techniques have their own drawbacks and hence cannot be applied always. In such cases, less known techniques like rugoscopy will be helpful.