A study of lip print pattern in Goan dental students - A digital approach.

Aim: To find the incidence of different types of lip patterns, the dominant pattern, quadrant wise, amongst the Goan population. To assess, the quadrant wise differences in lip patterns among males and females and to report new lip print pattern in Goan population.

Methodology: Lip prints of 100 students studying in Goa Dental College & Hospital were taken using 14 mm wide and 50 mm long Scotch tape without any distortion. These prints were then scanned (256 gray shades at a resolution of 300 dpi.) for the digital analysis. Using various applications of Adobe Photoshop 7 software an attempt was made to trace each and every line. K. Suzuki and Y. Tsuchihashi's classification was followed to define the patterns of the grooves.

Results: The current study has found the most predominant pattern in Quadrant I to be Type V (580 lines; 52.39%) followed in order by Type I' (196 lines; 17.70%), Type I (166 lines; 14.99%), Type II (166 lines; 10.47%), Type IV (40 lines; 3.61%), Type III (9 lines; 0.81%). In Quadrant II of this study the most predominant pattern recorded was Type V (589 lines; 50.47%) followed in order by Type I' (209 lines; 17.90%), Type I (204 lines; 17.48%), Type II (130 lines; 11.13%), Type IV (34 lines; 2.91%), Type III (1 line; 0.08%). In Quadrant III of this study the most predominant pattern recorded was again Type V (484 lines; 52.09%) followed in order by Type I' (174 lines; 18.72%), Type I (155 lines; 16.68%), Type II (102 lines; 10.97%), Type IV (9 lines; 0.96%), Type III (5 lines; 0.53%). In Quadrant IV of this study the most predominant pattern recorded was Type V (543 lines; 58.19%) followed in order by Type I (151 lines; 16.18%), Type I' (138 lines; 14.79%), Type II (85 lines; 9.11%), Type III (9 lines; 0.96%), Type IV (7 line; 0.75%). In all four Quadrants the most predominant pattern found in males and females was Type V. The present study recorded the following types of type V patterns for the first time; Trifurcations, Bridge or 'H' pattern, Horizontal Lines, Cartwheel, Pineapple Skin and Multiple Branching Appearance.

Conclusion: The digital method of analyzing the Lip Print images using Adobe Photoshop 7 software serves as a convenient method that provides better visualization and ease in identification and recording of the Lip Print pattern. Predominant pattern in all four quadrants was Type V followed by the linear pattern i.e. Type I' in quadrants I, II, and III and Type I in quadrant IV in the studied population. Distribution of pattern is not affected by the sex. Although type V is the most predominant pattern found in Goan population, the sub-classification of this type defines the more defined term and aids in accuracy of the classification.