Morphological Analysis of Vermilion Border and its Forensic Applications

摘要

Introduction: Lips are two fleshy folds surrounding the oral orifice. Grooves in the zone of transition of the human lips were named as “sulci labiorum rubrorum”. Study of lip prints is called as “cheiloscopy”. The morphological patterns of the two fleshy folds vary grossly in both sexes. Aim: The study was aimed to find the most common patterns, sexual variations, anthropometric measurements and the morphology of lips. Material and Methods: The present study was conducted on 300 subjects in the age group between 18 - 65 years. The impressions of the vermellion border were obtained. Morphometric analysis of the obtained impressions was done by using scale. The height, width of the mouth was measured. The wrinkles and grooves on the impressions obtained were studied with help of a magnifying lens using Suzuki’s classification. The prints of an individual subject were repeated each year for seven years. Results and discussion: The range in the width of mouth varied from 35-75 mm. The observed widths in males and females subjects varied. The male lips were wider compared to the females. In all age groups studied, in the maximum number of subjects (male and females), the height was ranging between 16-20 mm. the morphometric description of labial folds recognizes, the lips as thin, medium, thick and puffy. The present study on the subjects was medium variety in both sexes i.e. 40% each. The analysis of wrinkles and grooves on the impressions reveals that no impression matches with each other. There was no change observed in the impression of the study subject after seven years. Conclusion: The measurements of width of mouth, height of upper and lower lips and total lip height was greater in males as compared to females. It was concluded that males have a larger mouth and bigger lips than female. The medium types of lips were common in both sexes. There was no change in the lip prints patterns and the anthropometric measurements during seven years of duration. The knowledge of the patterns and measurements can be used as an instrument to identify subject under in the court of law.