Lip Print Patterns Of Saudi Arabian Subjects Visiting A Dental School

Background: Lip prints are creases on the vermilion border of the lips, formed due to the elevations and depressions on them. Lip print patterns are considered to be valuable biometric technique in forensic investigation. Globally, a number of studies have reported that establish lip-prints to be unique to an individual and can be a valuable source of DNA that can help in personal identification. Despite the usefulness and its assistance in solving the crime scene, lip print studies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are very few. Therefore, we undertook this study to add more to the scanty existing information. Aim:  1) To investigate the potential role of lip-prints in human identification. 2) To verify the potential for sex determination from lip print in Saudi Arabian individuals visiting the outpatient department of a private dental school in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A total of 485 subjects were recruited from the screening clinic of a dental school in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The lip prints of eligible and consenting study subjects was recorded using red/brown lipstick on the white paper that was scanned and converted to digital image. The scanned images were viewed using Photoshop image editing software that inverted images to grayscale. The lip prints in the six study areas of the upper and lips were categorized according to Renaud’s classification. The frequency of each type of lip print was calculated as a percentage. Chi (χ²) test was used to establish the association between the print type and the gender of participant with the confidence level fixed at 95% and a P value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The most predominant type of lip print in the study population was type J (upper lip=42.0% and lower lip= 26.31%) and no two individuals among the study subjects showed similarity in the six lip print areas examined. However, there was no statistically significant correlation between the gender and the lip print type. Conclusion: Based on our results we conclude that: 1. The lip prints of Saudi Arabian subjects are unique to every individual 2. No statistically significant difference was established between the gender and the type of lip prints of the study subjects.