Cheiloscopy and blood groups: Aid in forensic identification.
BACKGROUND
Every person has certain features that make them radically distinct from others. One such feature is lip prints. Lip prints remain the same throughout life and are uninfluenced by injuries, diseases, or environmental changes. Different individuals have specific blood groups according to the various antigen-antibody reactions in their bloodstream.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the distribution of different patterns of lip prints among subjects having different ABO and Rh blood groups.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the correlation between respective characteristics of subjects.


METHODS
In this study, lip prints were obtained from 122 subjects (62 males and 60 females), and associated blood-group matching was performed to determine the predominant lip print type and to determine any correlation between lip print types and blood groups. Tsuchihashi's classification of type I (complete vertical grooves), type I' (incomplete vertical grooves), type II (forking grooves), type III (intersecting grooves), type IV (reticular grooves), and type V (indeterminate grooves) was used to compare with the ABO and Rh blood grouping systems.


RESULTS
No correlation was found between lip prints and blood groups.


CONCLUSIONS
No significant correlation exists between blood group and lip prints. Lip prints play a vital role in identification because they are unique.
Department of Public Health Dentistry, Teerthanker Mahaveer Dental College and Research Centre, Moradabad, India.
Bushra
B
Karim
Department of Public Health Dentistry, Teerthanker Mahaveer Dental College and Research Centre, Moradabad, India.
Devanand
D
Gupta
Blood groups; Cheiloscopy; DNA, Deoxyribonucleic acid; Forensic odontology