Assessment of Dermatoglyphic Patterns With Malocclusion

Dermatoglyphics is the study of fingerprints and skin patterns. Dermal configurations appear at the 12th week of intrauterine life and are completely established by the 24th week of intrauterine life. It is said that thereafter these configurations remain constant throughout life except for overall size. Objective-To assess the relationship between the fingerprint patterns with skeletal malocclusion. Materials and methods- Fingerprint patterns were collected from 90 subjects using ink method who were grouped into skeletal class I, skeletal class II, skeletal class III malocclusion consisting of 30 subjects each. Results- Loop pattern was more frequent in skeletal class I and skeletal class II malocclusion, whorl pattern was present with increased frequency in skeletal class III malocclusion. Conclusion- The study was an attempt to assess the relationship of dermatoglyphic patterns with skeletal malocclusion so that it can be used as an indicator of developing malocclusion at an early age