ASSESSING THE INHERITANCE OF PALATAL RUGAE PATTERNS

Introduction- Palatal rugae patterns provide us important information in forensic identification. Palatal rugae are unique to each person but basic rugae patterns could still have similarities within family. Aim and Objectives: The present study was carried out to ascertain whether there is any hereditary pattern in palatal rugae patterns between offspring's and their parents. Methodology: It is a cross sectional study which constituted 30 families. Parents and their offspring (son or daughter) of each family were selected. The palatal rugae impression was recorded by using an alginate impression material and appropriate perforated metal tray for all subjects. The palatal rugae patterns of the offspring that matched with either of the parent was noted and recorded. The data was subjected to contingency coefficient and spearman’s correlation coefficient tests. Results: In general, Rugae patterns of offspring were similar to either of their parents. There was statistically significant resemblance of offspring palatal rugae patterns with either of their parents was found with (P value < 0.05). Conclusions: The use of palatal rugae in forensic identification is advantageous because of their low utilization cost, simplicity and reliability.