Evaluation and Comparison of Different Palatal Rugae Patterns between Dentulous and Edentulous Population of Mysuru City – A Preliminary Forensic Survey

BACKGROUND Forensic odontology is a branch of dentistry which deals with appropriate handling and examination of dental evidences and with the proper evaluation and presentation of dental findings in the interest of justice. Identification of an individual is a prerequisite for certification of death and for personal, social and legal reasons. Palatal rugae are permanent and unique to each person, and can be used by clinicians and scientists to establish identity. It can be of special interest in edentulous cases and also in certain conditions, such as burned bodies or bodies that underwent severe decomposition. Thus the uniqueness, postmortem resistance, overall stability and additionally low utilization cost makes palatal rugae ideal forensic identification parameters. We wanted to compare the various palatal rugae patterns between dentate and edentulous subjects and also determine the comparison of the distribution of rugae number, length, shape, direction, unification between dentate and edentulous subjects. METHODS The study sample consisted of 60 subjects, 30 dentulous and 30 edentulous from JSS Dental College & Hospital, Mysuru. The study group was equally divided between the sex, and was observed for number, length, shape, direction and unification of all palatal rugae. RESULTS The total number of rugae was higher in the dentulous group than in the edentulous group. In edentulous group, shorter lengths, lesser complexity rugae were seen compared to dentulous subjects. The total number of rugae on the right side in dentulous casts were 4.20 ± 1.06, while the total number on right side in Edentulous casts were 4.16 ± 0.79. On the left side mean total number of rugae in dentulous casts was 4.46 ± 0.79 whereas the mean total number of rugae in edentulous casts was 3.76 ± 0.77. CONCLUSIONS Palatal rugae pattern changed greatly after aging and loss of teeth regardless of time of edentulism and wearing denture. KEY WORDS Dentulous, Edentulous, Palatal Rugae, Forensic Identification