RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DERMATOGLYPHICS, CHILOSCOPY AND DENTAL CARIES AMONG DENTAL STUDENTS OF VISNAGAR TOWN, GUJARAT

Introduction: Dental caries has a high prevalence worldwide. Its aetiology is complex, however the question of a possible true genetic predisposition toward dental caries has piqued the minds of dental investigators for decades as lip, and thumb and the tooth enamel are derivatives of embryonic ectoderm. Aim and Objective: A study was conducted to assess if any relationship can be established between thumb print patterns, lip print patterns with dental caries respectively. Methodology: A Descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted among 233 dental students of Narsinhbhai Patel Dental College and Hospital, Visnagar, North Gujarat. Dental caries of students was recorded by using DMFT index. Thumb print and lip print of the students was recorded on bond paper and analyzed by Cummins method and Tsuchihashi’s classification respectively. Results: Prevalence of dental caries was higher among subjects with loop pattern (67.0%) compared to other thumb print patterns. Prevalence of dental caries was higher among subjects with branched groove pattern (71.3%) compared to other lip print patterns. Conclusion: Use of Dermatoglyphics and Cheiloscopy to predict the genetical basis of dental caries are still an inexact science at the present time. Further extensive research in this field has to be done in order to determine and evaluate the significance of this variation.