Varia????on of Palatal rugae in Palatal canine impac????ons amongst young adults- A Pilot Study: Original Ar????cle.

Abstract

Intoduction:Development of Palatal rugae (PR) completes during early intrauterine life, while dental malocclusions in
permanent den????????on take several years into postnatal life to get established. Research has shown the subtle associa????on
between the palatal rugae pa????ern and malocclusion. Since the palatal rugae are stable structures and follow a common
signalling pathway during craniofacial development, they can be helpful for the predic????on of dentoskeletal aberra????ons such
as canine impac????on.
Aim: To inves????gate whether an associa????on exists between morphological features of palatal rugae and palatally impacted
canines.
Methodology: A cross-sec????onal study was conducted on pre-treatment dental casts of 16 pa????ents with unilateral palatal
canine impac????ons. The length, pa????ern, orienta????on, unifica????on and zone of the three anterior-most primary rugae on both
sides (Group 1-impacted and group 2- normal side) were recorded using an integrated rugoscopy chart.
Results: The mean length for 1st and 2nd PR on the impacted side was more, but less for 3rd PR and the results were
sta????s????cally significant. The wavy pa????ern was predominant for all three rugae on both the impacted and normal sides.
Regarding the orienta????on and unifica????on, all rugae in Group 1 & 2 were predominantly backward or posteriorly directed
without unifica????on.
Conclusion: The present clinical study provides a valuable insight that PR may also be used as addi????onal criteria for
predic????ng canine impac????ons for the purpose of disaster vic????m iden????fica????on as well as predic????ng future malocclusion in
children.