A study of morphological patterns of lip prints in relation to gender of North Indian population

ABSTRACTBackgroundEstablishing a person's identity is a very important process in civil and criminal cases. Dental, fingerprint and DNA comparisons are probably the most common techniques allowing fast and secure identification processes. However, in certain circumstances related to the scene of the crime or due to lack of experienced personnel, these techniques might be unavailable; so there is still an increasing need for reliable alternative methods of establishing identity.ObjectiveThe objective of the study was to check for any peculiar lip patterns in relation to the sex of the individual and determine the most common lip patterns in the given population.Materials and MethodsThis study was conducted on 150 subjects, which included 75 males and 75 females, in the age group of 18–30 years. After applying lipstick evenly, the lip print of each subject was obtained on a simple bond paper by a researcher, and later the lip print was then analyzed and interpreted.ResultsThe intersected type was most commonly seen in females and branched in males. Reticular pattern was the least common type in both males and females.ConclusionThis study shows that the lip prints are unique to an individual and behold the potential for recognition of the sex of an individual.