Palatal Rugae Patterns Among a Sudanese Population Sample

Abstract

Palatal rugae patterns can have a significant role in forensic identification when it is difficult to use the normal identification methods. This study aimed to identify the morphological patterns of palatal rugae in a sample of Sudanese dental students attending the University of Science and Technology – Omdurman – Sudan. Maxillary impression models obtained from 100 subjects (50 males and 50 females). The data were assessed based on the Thomas and Kotze classification (1983). Results showed that the prevalence of the palatal rugae numbers was significantly more in females than in males.