Correlation between dermatoglyphics and dental caries in children: A case-control study

Kishore Kumar Singh; Kumari Menka; Kumar Anand; Aashana Goel; Abhishek Dontulwar; Jagadish Prasad Rajguru

doi:10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_108_20

Correlation between dermatoglyphics and dental caries in children: A case-control study

J Family Med Prim Care. 2020 Jun 30;9(6):2670-2675. doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_108_20. eCollection 2020 Jun.

Authors

Kishore Kumar Singh¹, Kumari Menka², Kumar Anand³, Aashana Goel⁴, Abhishek Dontulwar⁵, Jagadish Prasad Rajguru⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Nalanda Medical College, Patna, Bihar, India.
² Private Practitioner, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Patna, Bihar, India.
³ Department of Dentistry, IGIMS, Patna, Bihar, India.
⁴ Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Adesh Institute of Research and Dental Sciences, Bathinda, Punjab, India.
⁵ Department of Prosthodontics, Crown Bridge and Implantology, Dr Rajesh R. Kambe Dental College and Hospital, Akola, Maharashtra, India.
⁶ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Hi-Tech Dental College and Hospital, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.

Abstract

Background: Dental caries is a microbiological disease affecting teeth which has both genetic as well as environmental factors. Dermatoglyphics is the study of fingerprint patterns and is also genetically determined. This study is aimed to determine a correlation between dermatoglyphic patterns and caries susceptibility among children.

Methods: A total of 250 children (125 each of case and control groups) were selected. Dental caries status was evaluated using the DMFT index while dermatoglyphic study was performed by recording impressions using stamp pad-ink method.

Results: Higher frequency of all dermatoglyphic patterns was observed among female subjects with caries as compared to caries-free subjects as well as compared to male subjects.

Conclusion: Dermatoglyphics can be employed as a positive indicator of caries susceptibility among children and holds importance in the area as future caries predictor.

Keywords: Children; dental caries; dermatoglyphics.