insist upon 3D palatal scans of all pilots to ensure their speedy identification should they be involved in an accident2. This article seems to raise more ques-
tions than it answers about the potential role of palatal rugae in human forensic identification, but the advancement of scientific techniques relies on such ques- tions being asked, with those questions becoming the focus of future studies. To summarise, there is, as yet, no
reliable and consistent method of using the palatal rugae pattern successfully to aid human forensic identification. The potential changes in rugae patterns, whether growth-related, age-related or otherwise, need to be better understood as to whether these changes are toler- able and have a place in this technique. Reliability and repeatability will only be proven by continuing to research new knowledge and new methods which apply to lesser- known techniques. Just because a method is unconventional does not make it bad science. It should be as robust in its reasoning and testability as conventional methods. Dental identification, conventional or otherwise, can bring immeasurable comfort and closure to a grieving family or loved one. On the rare occasion that conventional methods cannot be used, we owe it to the deceased, their family and to ourselves professionally to ensure we acknowledge the potential downfalls in alternative techniques, using them to support other forensic disciplines rather than as standalone methods.
of dental casts. Angle Orthodontic, 65(1) pp. 43-48
15. Peavy DC and Kendrick GS (1967) The Effects of Tooth Movement on the Palatine Rugae. Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry, 18 pp. 536-542
16. Kapali S, Townsend G, Richards L, Parish T. (1997) Palatal rugae patterns in Australian Aborigines and Caucasians. Australian Dental Journal, 42(2) pp. 129-133
17. Patil MS, Patil SB, Acharya AB, (2008) Palatine rugae and their significance in clinical dentistry: a review of the literature. The Journal of the American Dental Asso- ciation, 138 pp. 1471-1478
18. Thomas CJ & Kotze TJvW, (1983) The palatal rugae pattern: a new classifi- cation. Journal of the Dental Association of South Africa, 38(3) pp.153-176
19. Muthusubramanian M, Limson KS, Julian R, (2005) analysis of rugae in burn victims and cadavers to simulate rugae identifica- tion in cases of incineration and decomposition. Journal of Forensic Odontostoma- tology, 23(1) pp. 25-29
20. Bansode SC and Kulkarni M, (2009) Importance of palatal rugae in individual identification. Journal of Forensic Dentistry, 1(2) pp. 77-81
Scottish Dental magazine 49
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