Role of Palatal Rugae in Forensic Identification of the Pediatric Population

Palatal rugae, are the ridges on the anterior part of palatal mucosa, each side of the median palatal raphe and behind the incisive papilla. Rugae patterns have been studied for various purposes, and have been established to have a role in positive identification of individuals in suspected cases. The present study aims at determining the effect of growth, on palatal rugae patterns and to analyse uniqueness of palatal rugae in identification of paediatric patients over a period of time. In the present study all the casts were matched with significant ease, thus palatal rugae patterns are unique and do not change. Furthermore, no statistically significant effect was seen on the position of the palatal rugae in orthodontically treated cases. Thus, palatal rugae pattern are sufficiently characteristic to discriminate between individuals.