RESUMEN
Objective: To analyse the role of palatal rugoscopy in person identification and sex determination. Material and Methods: The study group consisted of 30 children having mixed dentition within the age range of 8-15 years. Based on the length of the rugae, it was classified as primary (>5mm), secondary (3-5mm) and fragmentary (<3mm) and according to shape, (straight, curve, circular and wavy). Association between rugae patterns and sexual dimorphism were tested and statistically analysed using Chi-square test and stepwise discriminant function analysis with statistical software SPSS version 17.0. Results: Results of the present study indicates that there was higher primary rugae patterns (p>0.05) among boys over girls (boys - 224 and girls - 213) and circular rugae pattern and secondary rugae were more among girls (88) over boys (56) (p<0.05). Converging unification pattern was more among boys (17) over girls (11), whereas diverging pattern was more among girls (19) over boys (13), but there was no difference for wavy and curved patterns between boys and girls. These results were confirmed with standardized canonical discriminant function coefficient test. Conclusion: The present study hypothesizes the uniqueness of the rugae pattern in person identification as no two palates showed similar type of rugae in either of the genders. Palatal rugae revealed a specific pattern in unification among boys and girls. Discriminant function analysis enabled sex determination of individuals.