Types of palatal rugae for sex determination in the Indonesian subpopulation

Palatal rugae patterns are considered unique to each person and are, therefore, comparable to fingerprints. Palatal rugae are stable over the lifetime and do not undergo any changes, except for the increase in length as a process of normal growth. The present study aimed to analyze the patterns of palatal rugae in an Indonesian subpopulation for sex determination. The study included 100 samples (53 females and 47 males) of dental casts from 13-75-year-old subjects. The patterns of the rugae on the right and left sides of the palate were examined. The dental casts were examined for the total number of rugae using Lysell's classification. Based on the results of the Mann-Whitney test, no significant differences in the numbers of primary, secondary or fragmentary palatal rugae were observed between the female and male subjects in the tested Indonesian subpopulation. The number of palatal rugae cannot be used for sex determination in the tested Indonesian subpopulation.