Heritability and Correlation of Lip Prints and Palmprints in South Kerala Population

Background: Forensic dentistry, a branch of forensic sciences, identify suspects with the uniqueness of oral and maxillofacial structures. Lip prints and palmprints are unique. Aims and objectives: The present study was carried out with the objectives of evaluating the correlation between lip prints and palmprints and heritability of lip prints and palmprints among parents and their off springs. The predominant pattern of lip prints and palmprints were also analyzed. Materials and methods: The study group comprised of 35 families from South Kerala population. Participants belonging to the same family pedigree—Father, mother, children of each family were selected. Results: The predominant lip pattern in the entire study popu­ lation was Type II. The predominant palm pattern in the entire study population was Category 5 in both right and left palm. Lip pattern shows a positive correlation with right palm pattern, but it is statistically insignificant (p = 0.144). Lip pattern showed neither positive correlation nor significant association with the left palm. This study results revealed significant association between lip print patterns among parents and children (p = 0.04). Conclusion: The present study was conducted to find out the heritability and correlation of lip and palmprints in the South Kerala population. Lip pattern shows a positive correlation with right palm pattern, but it is statistically insignificant. Significant association between lip print patterns among parents and children were noticed in our study.