title: Palatoscopy: An adjunct to forensic odontology: A comparative study among five different populations of India.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was conducted to analyze and identify differences in the palatal rugae patterns and to identify gender wise changes in the palatal rugae shapes in populations of five different states of India.
  
  
  METHODS
  Study was conducted in five different Indian states. 500 sample subjects from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra were included. Rugae patterns with predominant shapes were analyzed and categorized according to different states and both genders, data was statistically analyzed using SPSS software 15.0 and the results were obtained by Chi-square analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  "Wavy" type of palatal rugae pattern is the most predominant variant in five different study groups in both the genders.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study could identify variations in distribution of various palatal rugae pattern in five different states and confirmed the "wavy" type of palatal rugae patterns to be the most predominant variant in five different study groups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, AME's Dental College Hospital and Research Centre, Raichur, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Byatnal
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Manipal, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Aditi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Byatnal
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, SIBAR Institute of Dental Sciences, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: A Ravi
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Kiran
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, SIBAR Institute of Dental Sciences, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Samata
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, AME's Dental College Hospital and Research Centre, Raichur, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Yadavalli
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guruprasad
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Bapuji Dental College and Hospital, Davangere, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Neethu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Telagi
keywords: Forensic odontology; palatal rugae; palatoscopy