Palatal Rugea – an Aid in Clinical Dentistry

Abstract

Among the common methods used in the forensic sciences for confirming the identity are fingerprinting, DNA \ranalysis and dental comparison. In forensic dentistry, the oral cavity plays a very important role because of unique \ranatomy of teeth. In certain situations, if teeth are lost due to any reason, the most common of which is trauma, then \rthe use of human palatal rugae has been suggested as an alternative method for identification. Palatal Rugae are \ranatomical wrinkles or folds called ‘plica palatine’, the irregular connective tissue located on the anterior third of the \rpalate behind the incisive papilla. These are studied for various purposes mainly in fields of anthropology, genetics, \rorthodontics, prosthodontics, and forensic science.. These are formed by 12\rth\r to 14\rth\r week of prenatal life and almost \rremain throughout life. As they are stable landmark, which once formed, do not undergo any changes except in \rlength (due to normal growth) and remain in position throughout person’s life. Thus palatoscopy or palatal rugoscopy \ris used as an aid in clinical dentistry