THE RELIABILITY OF CHEILOSCOPY AND PALATOSCOPY IN HUMAN IDENTIFICATION: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

A. Alhussin, A. Basmaji, H. Fares, M. Abdelaziz, R. AbuShihab, Y. Baaziz, N. A. Rawi, S. A. Kawas, M. Mohammed, S. Shetty

Abstract: Background. Human identification by dental and other allied orofacial structures beholds importance for various purposes like criminal, legal, and aviation disasters. Lip prints and Palatoscopy bring added evidence to a crime scene that can be valuable. Over the years many studies have been conducted to determine the reliability of these methods. Aim. To systematically evaluate reliability of the published studies pertaining to palatoscopy and cheiloscopy. Material and methods. A literature search was conducted using ProQuest One Academic, Scopus, PubMed and Science Direct websites using predefined keywords. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method was used for screening the articles. Results. A total of 160 articles were obtained from the online search. 17 out of 160 articles were selected after screening. All the 17 articles were classified as having strong evidence when evaluated using critical appraisal skills program (CASP) criteria. Conclusions. The data showed that cheiloscopy and palatoscopy have the significant potential in human identification. Chelioscopy is more reliable in gender determination when compared to palatal rugae. Further research needs to be conducted in different regions of the world on larger populations to validate the results of the research.
Keywords: cheiloscopy, palatoscopy, lip prints, rugoscopy, palatal rugae, forensic odontology, human identification.