PALATAL RUGOSCOPY AS A METHOD OF GENDER DETERMINATION IN MARATHWADA POPULATION

Prashant V. Male, *Vijayalaxmi, Sneha Khanapure, Varsha Ajit Sangle and Namratha Patil

ABSTRACT

Context: Palatal rugae are used for various purposes and are of most importance in forensic cases, because they are highly individualistic. Aims: Rugae are also characteristic to a particular population, which could help in mass disaster. This paper studies about the pattern of rugae in Marathwada population of Maharashtra State. Settings and Design: A total of 60 subjects, 30 Males and 30 Females were considered for the study. The study subjects were in the age range of 19-26 years from Marathwada region and were randomly selected from OPD in the Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology at Maharashtra Institute of Dental Sciences, Latur. Methods and Material: After taking verbal consent from patient, alginate impressions were made in perforated impression trays and stone casts were made. The rugae were marked with a sharp graphite pencil and then lengths were measured using flexible wire. The study was based on the classification system given by Thomas and Kotze and Kapali et al. Statistical analysis used: Chi square and mann-whitney tests were used for mean and relationship between the attributes. Confidence interval and p-value were set at 95% and ≤0.05 respectively. Results: The number of rugae is more when compared to females, both on right and left side of palate and wavy pattern is found to be more compared to other patterns in this population. Conclusions: The features of rugae being stable, unique, easily recorded and highly reliable make them a good mode for forensic identification.

Keywords: Palatal Rugae, Forensic Odontology, Marathwada Populations.