3D Morphometric Analysis of Palatal Rugae Pa????ern and its Associa????on with Gender

Abstract

Aim: To determine whether there exists any gender difference in palatal rugae pa????ern among individuals from west U????ar
Pradesh in rela????on to (a) rugae count (b) measurement (c) shape (d) angula????on in both male and female samples of the rugae
on either side of mid pala????ne raphae.
Materials and Method: The study was conducted on a total of 50 adult subjects belonging to western U????ar Pradesh. The
samples were randomly selected comprising 25 males and 25 females. 3D scans were performed to record the palate using
iTero intra-oral scanner. The data was screened based on the Thomas and Kotze classifica????on (1983) and subjected to
adequate sta????s????cal assessment.
Results: A total of 278 rugae were screened, with a mean count of 6.25 (SD=0.44) in females and 6.38 (SD=0.65) in males,
indica????ng no significant gender differences. The total number of rugae ranged between 5-8. Among males, 4.2% had 8 rugae.
Among females, 75% had 6 rugae, and 25% had a maximum of 7 rugae. The mean count on the right was 3.21 (SD=0.46), on
the le???? was 3.11 (SD=0.32). No significant difference in rugae length or angle was found between genders or sides, except for
specific instances noted in the study.
Conclusion: This research sample shows no gender bias in any of the metric or non-metric characteris????cs of the palatal
rugae. The wavy pa????ern was most common in both the genders. Forwardly placed palatal rugae was most common in both
the genders.