Analysis of palatal rugae pattern and maxillary sinus index for gender determination

Correlation between rugoscopy and lateral cephalometric radiographic technique for gender determination is of interest. A cross sectional study was conducted on 100 subjects within an age group of 20 to 50 years. Distribution of rugae patterns and morphometric analysis of maxillary sinus was done for gender correlation. Wavy curved and straight rugae patterns were observed to be more in female gender as compared to males. The mean MSI was higher in females (1.32) when compared with males (1.26). Both the morphometric analysis of maxillary sinus and rugoscopy has been proved to be a valuable tool in the assessment of sexual dimorphism. But, morphometric analysis of maxillary sinus is relatively a new and reliable method for gender determination using maxillary sinus index.