Morphometric analysis of palatal rugae among Jordanians: further evidence of worldwide palatal rugae individuality

Abstract

This study investigated the morphology and individuality of palatal rugae among Jordanians. The assessment of palatal rugae was done on 327 dental casts. The palatal rugae within each cast were outlined and then classified according to their length, shape and orientation. The test of individuality was performed on a subset of 50 casts that were selected randomly from the study sample. Statistical analyses revealed that the only rugae type that was significantly different between males and females was the anterior rugae type (P<0.05). The predominant types of palatal rugae were the primary (P<0.05), the anterior (P<0.05), and the wavy (P<0.05). Moreover, none of the compared palatal rugae patterns were identical. The study provided reference data regarding the morphology of palatal rugae among Jordanians and more importantly it provided evidence that the individuality of palatal rugae is not limited to certain ethnicity or population but is more likely a worldwide phenomenon.