Epidermal Ridge Patterns of Fingers in the Patients with Oral Premalignant Conditions-A Dermatoglypic Study

Dermatoglyphics play an important role in the identification of a person as well as identifying a person with a genetic abnormality. Hence, the present study was conducted with an aim to explore the association between the fingerprint patterns and oral potentially malignant disorders (PMDs).

We observed 80 individuals divided into 4 groups with 20 individuals in each group based on their habit and the presence of oral lesions. Group 1 included individuals with oral leukoplakia (OL), Group 2 included individuals with oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF), Group 3 individuals had tobacco habits but without lesion and Group 4 comprised of control individuals. The fingerprints of all the study subjects were recorded using a standard ink method. They were analyzed qualitatively and quantitively. It was observed that loop patterns was predominant in all the groups.

The frequency of the whorled pattern was higher in subjects with OSMF as compared to OL. The arch pattern was comparatively lesser in subjects with OL than OSMF subjects. We conclude that dermatoglyphics can be used as a potential marker to identify the subjects with risk for potentially malignant oral disorders.