Morphological study of rugae palatinae in Sudanese Nubians.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to identify and compare the various morphological characteristics of rugae palatinae in males and females of adult Sudanese Nubians and to assess the existence of side asymmetry. Furthermore, the possibility of assigning sex utilising dimensions, shapes, and orientations was explored using logistic regression. MATERIALS AND METHODS In all, 100 maxillary casts were equally distributed between the sexes. All subjects belonged to a similar age group, ranging from 18 to 23 years of age, and were examined for rugae palatinae dimensions, shapes, and orientations for the purpose of assessing sexual dimorphism and side symmetry. RESULTS The most dominant were the primary rugae, and the most prevalent shapes were the wavy, curved, and straight in both sexes. The dominant direction of rugae was the forward-directed. Furthermore, while there was no sexual dimorphism in rugae orientation, primary rugae and converging unified rugae exhibited significant differences between the sexes. Significant asymmetry was observed in females' primary and wavy shaped rugae, a diverging unified shaped was found in males, and forward- and backward-directed rugae were found in both sexes. CONCLUSIONS This study provided reference data regarding the rugae palatinae morphology among Sudanese population. A predictive value of 60% was obtained when assigning sex using dimensions and orientations, and a predictive value of 65% was determined when using only shapes. Accordingly, using the rugae palatinae to accurately estimate sex among Sudanese Nubians is not recommended unless it is the only means available.