Analysis of Palatal Rugae pattern in Indian and Nepalese population- a comparative study

Background: Human identification is an important aspect in forensic science. Palatal rugae are unique in each individual and they remain consistent in shape and size during one’s life time. Certain rugae patterns are specific to particular population and vary geographically. Objective: To assess and compare the palatal rugae pattern in Indian and Nepalese population situated in Vadodara, India. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted on 200 healthy participants- 100 Indian & 100 Nepalese situated in Vadodara district. All the participants were above 16 years of age and with presence of all the teeth. The origins of parents for the participants were Indian and Nepalese respectively. Maxillary impression of each participant was taken in rubber base material and a cast was prepared in type IV dental stone. With the help of black marker pencil, the outline of palatal rugae was delineated. The More et al classification was used. The details were recorded. The collected data was statistically analyzed by using SPSS software version 16 and the test applied were Pearson chi square and independent ‘t’ test. Results: Out of total 200 participants, 81 were females and 119 were males. The age ranged from 16-65 yrs. with a mean age of 28.82 ± 11.81 yrs. The mean of total number of palatal rugae in Indian and Nepalese participants was 8.30 ± 1.43 &8.28 ± 1.37 respectively; which was statistically not significant (p>0.05). The most common type of palatal rugae in both the group was primary type, which was statistically not significant (p>0.05). The faint type of rugae thickness was statistically highly significant (p<0.05). ‘Line’ type was the most common shape seen in both the groups. The backwardly directed rugae was commonly seen in study groups and was statistically not significant (p>0.05).A new type of shape ‘H’ was noted and the location of rugae was different in both the groups. Conclusion: The palatal rugae pattern is one of the important aid in personal identification. The present study concludes that the shape in Indian and Nepalese participants were more or less similar except the location of rugaes.