Analysis of palatal rugae in males and females of Saudi Arabian population (Makkah province)

Background: It is a well-known fact that teeth are considered crucial in identification; in edentulous cases, palatal rugae are handy in individual identification. There are evidences proved that there are gender related and geographic variation in palatal rugae pattern. Hence, the purpose of this study was to figure out the role of palatal rugae in differentiation between sexes of Saudi Arabian population. Materials and Methods: A total of 50 maxillary dental stone cast were prepared comprised both male and female samples of same age group, casts were looked for rugae shape such as straight, wavy, curved, unification, and circular and their percentage recorded. Results: The average number of rugae patterns in both sexes in total and the mean values that show no significant differences between both sexes although the number of rugae was slightly higher in male than females in total. Conclusion: This work concludes that rugae patterns can be used as additional method for identification as a personal print and considered a characteristic to discriminate between individuals.