Study of lip print pattern in a Punjabi population

BACKGROUND: Lip prints are unique to each individual and can be used for personal identification. The lip prints show differences according to the race and the ethnic origins of a person. AIM: The objective of the study was to determine the predominant lip print type in a Punjabi population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted on 106 students of our institution and comprised 56 males and 50 females in the age group of 18-25 years. The middle part of the lower lip was taken as study area. Analysis of lip print pattern was done according to Tsuchihashi Classification. RESULTS: No two lip prints matched with each other. Type 1 pattern (vertical grooves that run across the entire lip) was found to be predominant in both males (51.02%) and females (43.47%) and there was no statistically observed difference between males and females in individual lip print types. CONCLUSION: In our study, lip prints did not match with each other, hence lip prints are unique and further studies with larger samples are required to obtain statistical significance.