European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Background - Dental caries is a major public health concern affecting millions of people worldwide.Its aetiology is complex, however the question of a possible true genetic predisposition toward dental caries has piqued the minds of dental investigators for decades as lip and thumb and the tooth enamel are derivatives of embryonic ectoderm. Aim and Objective – The objective of this article is to know the relationship between lip print and dental caries and to know which type of lip print is more susceptible to dental caries. Sample lip prints collected from the subjects are segregated according to their types and presence of dental caries in order to study their relationship. Methodology-A Descriptive, cross-sectional study was among 87 adults aged 18-55 years by cheiloscopy and examination of dental caries.The lips prints were recorded on paper and analyzed using Tsuchihashi's classification. Dental caries are registered according to FDI system. Result - Among the study, the branched pattern (type II) of lip prints was seen in 72% with a higher incidence of caries in our study and this was also in accordance to the study done by Madhusudan et al. Conclusion - The current study has helped us to correlate certain patterns which might be related to specific occurrence of dental caries and their relationship. In our study, among cheiloscopic patterns, type II (branched) pattern was predominant among all the subjects.