Search

Introduction: Cheiloscopy is the identification of humans based on lips traces used as a forensic investigation technique. Lip prints can be used as a reliable forensic tool, considering the consistency of lip prints over time and the accurate correlation of indirect prints to direct prints. Aims & Objective: The aim of this survey is to identify the awareness and knowledge of cheiloscopy among dental students. Materials and Methods: The cross sectional survey was done among 100 dental students in Chennai city after obtaining their informed consent. The survey instrument was a self designed questionnaire with 13 questions eliciting information about demographics of the participants and knowledge and awareness regarding Cheiloscopy. The questions were sent through a link which was passed around online through survey planet. The responses were collected, tabulated and analysed. Observation & Results: 94% of the students were aware of cheiloscopy. 75% of the students were not aware of the Suzuki and Tsuchihashi classification of lip prints. 84% of the population were aware of the obligations of cheiloscopy. 63% were aware that lip prints were subjective to change. 74% were aware of latent lip prints. Conclusion: This study concluded the awareness and knowledge about cheiloscopy was adequate among the dental students. However more rigorous continuing education programs can greatly enhance the knowledge about the forensic applications of cheiloscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personal identification is of vital importance in forensic odontology for ethical, humanitarian and criminal enquiries. The applicability of Cheiloscopy ( study of pattern of lip print), one of the easiest tools available in individual and medicolegal identification, is an area of extensive research in recent years. With the objective to investigate the uniqueness of lip patterns in relation to gender and blood groups, this study was conducted on 100 subjects, which included 50 males and 50 females. The lip prints obtained were studied by applying Suzuki and Tsuchihashi’s classification.Type 2 (37%) was the most common lip print type in males and Type 3 (38.5%) was the most common lip print type in females. The Lower lip print can help in gender determination. No significant statistical correlation was found between the lip print patterns and blood group. Along with the traditional methods of identification like fingerprint analysis,Cheiloscopy can also be helpful in the identification of a person.However, the utility of the same in forensic medicine still remains largely untapped and unacknowledged. Similar studies with larger sample sizes are required to obtain statistically significant reports thereby allowing a more impactful emergence of lip print patterns usage in forensic analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lip prints are the normal lines and fissures in the form of wrinkles and grooves present in the zone of transition of human lip, between the inner labial mucosa and outer skin. Yasuo Tsuchihashi (1974) presented a standardized classification of his own, for different types of lip print. He has classified lip prints into five types, which forms the basis of categorizing lip prints. Keeping the above classification as a basis, the present study was conducted to identify whether there are any other types of lip prints apart from these five types or to identify any subtypes available within these five types. Among the outpatients and their accompanying persons who attended the Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Saveetha Dental College, Chennai, 750 (348 males and 402 females) individuals were selected for the present lip print analysis study. From the present study it can be concluded that there are no new types of lip prints be identified, but there are subtypes present in Type II and Type V lip prints which can serve as an important tool in forensic dentistry for personal identification and criminal investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]