Original Article

Year : 2018 | Volume : 3 | Issue : 2 | Page : 90 - 94

A Demographic Study of Palatal Rugae Patterns among North and North East Indian Populations

Annu Saini, Achint Garg

From the Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, ITS Dental College, Hospital and Research Centre, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India

Address for correspondence:

Dr. Annu Saini, E‐mail: annusaini555@gmail.com

Abstract

Introduction:

Palatal rugae are the ridges on the anterior part of the palatal mucosa, present on each side of the median palatal raphe and behind the incisive papilla also. Various studies on different populations reported the unique ruga patterns within each population, which have a significant role in personal identification.

Aim:

The aim of the present study is to determine the different patterns and number of rugae in north Indian and North-East Indian populations.

Material and Method:

The sample size of the study includes 120 students aged 18–24 years and was divided into two groups comprising sixty north Indian and sixty North-East Indian students, respectively, based on population, with equal gender (thirty males and thirty females in each group) distribution. The variation in rugae pattern was analyzed according to Thomas and Kotze classification.

Results:

The results of the present study show that there was a significant difference present in the number of rugae in north and North-East Indian populations, with P = >0.05. The predominant shape observed was sinusoidal which was significantly higher in North‐East Indian population comparative to North Indian population.

Conclusion:

It may be concluded that the ruga pattern may be an additional method of differentiation between the north Indian and North-East Indian populations. A larger multi-ethnic study could be undertaken to validate this claim among various cross ethnic groups.

Key Words: Demographic study, forensic odontology, North‐Indian population, palatoscopy

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

How to cite this article:

Saini A, Garg A. A demographic study of palatal rugae patterns among North and North East Indian populations. Int J Forensic Odontol 2018;3:90-4.