Diversity of human lip prints: a collaborative study of ethnically distinct world populations.

BACKGROUND: Cheiloscopy is a comparatively recent counterpart to the long established dactyloscopic studies. Ethnic variability of these lip groove patterns has not yet been explored. AIM: This study was a collaborative effort aimed at establishing cheiloscopic variations amongst modern human populations from four geographically and culturally far removed nations: India, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Nigeria. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Lip prints from a total of 754 subjects were collected and each was divided into four equal quadrants. The patterns were classified into six regular types (A-F), while some patterns which could not be fitted into the regular ones were segregated into G groups (G-0, G-1, G-2). Furthermore, co-dominance of more than one pattern type in a single quadrant forced us to identify the combination (COM, G-COM) patterns. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The remarkable feature noted after compilation of the data included pattern C (a bifurcate/branched prototype extending the entire height of the lip) being a frequent feature of the lips of all the populations studied, save for the Nigerian population in which it was completely absent and which showed a tendency for pattern A (a vertical linear groove) and a significantly higher susceptibility for combination (COM) patterns. Chi-square test and correspondence analysis applied to the frequency of patterns appearing in the defined topographical areas indicated a significant variation for the populations studied.

Greater palatine foramen--key to successful hemimaxillary anaesthesia: a morphometric study and report of a rare aberration.

INTRODUCTION: Accurate localisation of the greater palatine foramen (GPF) is imperative while negotiating the greater palatine canal for blocking the maxillary nerve within the pterygopalatine fossa. The aim of this study was to define the position of the foramen relative to readily identifiable intraoral reference points in order to help clinicians judge the position of the GPF in a consistently reliable manner. METHODS: The GPF was studied in 100 dried, adult, unsexed skulls from the state of Maharashtra in western India. Measurements were made using a vernier caliper. RESULTS: The mean distances of the GPF from the midline maxillary suture, incisive fossa, posterior palatal border and pterygoid hamulus were 14.49 mm, 35.50 mm, 3.40 mm and 11.78 mm, respectively. The foramen was opposite the third maxillary molar in 73.38% of skulls, and the direction in which the foramen opened into the oral cavity was found to be most frequently anteromedial (49.49%). In one skull, the greater and lesser palatine foramina were bilaterally absent. Except for the invariably present incisive canals, there were no accessory palatal foramina, which might have permitted passage of the greater palatine neurovascular bundle in lieu of the absent GPF. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of such a non-syndromic presentation. CONCLUSION: The GPF is most frequently palatal to the third maxillary molar. For an edentulous patient, the foramen may be located 14-15 mm from the mid-palatal raphe or about 12 mm anterior to the palpable pterygoid hamulus.