RESUMO
Introduction: Palatal rugoscopy is the study of palatal rugae pattern. Rugae pattern remain unchanged during an individual's life time. Personal identification can be possible based on the rugae pattern since palate would remain intact till 7 days after death; due to their internal position in the head when most other anatomical structures are destroyed or burned. Rugae pattern is as unique to a human as his or her fingerprints. Objectives: The purpose of the study was to identify the palatal rugae patterns in Rwandan patients attending the Dental Dept at King Faisal Hospital; Kigali; Rwanda and to find sexual differences if any. Methods: 114 maxillary study models of 51 males and 63 females were randomly obtained from the Dental Clinic of King Faisal Hospital; Kigali; Rwanda; and from the Dental Clinic of Polyclinique La Medicale; Kigali; Rwanda. Different types of rugae patterns and their orientation in relation to the mid-palatal raphe were evaluated. Results: The study revealed that although there were some significant differences in the pattern and orientation of rugae in both genders and on both sides of palate; there was no significant sexual dimorphism regarding the total number of rugae. The females showed more of the wavy type of rugae; while males had curved type. Their orientation was also found to be significantly different in both the genders. Conclusion: It can be concluded that different rugae patterns and rugae orientation are present which show sexual dimorphism among the Rwanda population. But further studies are needed to corroborate these findings. Rugae pattern can be used as an additional method of identification in forensic science