An Assessment of Correlation between Dermatoglyphic Patterns and Sagittal Skeletal Discrepancies.

INTRODUCTION: Investigators over years have been fascinated by dermatoglyphic patterns which has led to the development of dermatoglyphics as a science with numerous applications in various fields other than being the best and most widely used method for personal identification.

AIM: To assess the correlation between dermatoglyphic patterns and sagittal skeletal discrepancies.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 180 patients, aged 18-40 years, were selected from those who attended the outpatient clinic of the Deparment of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, Mar Baselios Dental College, Kothamangalam, Kerala, India. The fingerprints of both hands were taken by ink and stamp method after proper hand washing. The patterns of arches, loops and whorls in fingerprints were assessed. The total ridge count was also evaluated. Data was also sent to the fingerprint experts for expert evaluation. The sagittal jaw relation was determined from the patient's lateral cephalogram. The collected data was then statistically analyzed using Chi-square tests, ANOVA and Post-hoc tests and a Multinomial regression prediction was also done.

RESULTS: A significant association was observed between the dermatoglyphic pattern exhibited by eight fingers and the sagittal skeletal discrepancies (p<0.05). An increased distribution of whorl pattern was observed in the skeletal Class II with maxillary excess group and skeletal Class II with mandibular deficiency group while an increased distribution of loop pattern was seen in the skeletal Class III with mandibular excess group and skeletal Class III with maxillary deficiency group. Higher mean of total ridge count was also seen in the groups of skeletal Class II with maxillary excess and skeletal Class II with mandibular deficiency. Multinomial regression predicting skeletal pattern with respect to the fingerprint pattern showed that the left thumb impression fits the best model for predicting the skeletal pattern.

CONCLUSION: There was a significant association between dermatoglyphic patterns and sagittal skeletal discrepancies. Dermatoglyphics could serve as a cost effective screening tool of these craniofacial problems.