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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Cheiloscopyfor Sex Determination:A Study

Monica Kinra, Karthikeyan Ramalingam1, Sathya Sethuraman, Farzan Rehman2, Girish Lalawat2, Anil Pandey2
Departments of Oral pathology and Microbiology, Surendera Dental College, Sriganganagar, 2Jaipur Dental College, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India,
1
Sebha University, Sebha, Libya

ABSTRACT
Objective: To find out the possibility of sex determination of an individual using lip prints. Materials and Methods: A total
of 40patients(20males and 20females) of the age group20-30years were included in this study. Lip impressions
were made using lipstick, cellophane tape, and white bond paper. Tsuchihashis classification of lip prints was used for
analysis using magnifying glass. Results: The analysis revealed that 12females(60%) and 15males(75%) were identified
correctly with the lip prints. TypeIII pattern was predominant in males and TypeI/I' pattern was predominant in females.
Conclusion: Our study demonstrates the potential use of lip prints for sex determination in forensic dentistry, as they are
unique to every individual.
KEY WORDS: Forensic dentistry, lip prints, sex determination, TypeI, TypeI', TypeIII

INTRODUCTION
Fingerprints, postmortem reports, and DNA fingerprinting
have been used successfully for personal identification in
the field of forensic science. Lip prints can be helpful in
positive identification of a person and can be used to verify
the presence or absence of a person at the crime scene.[1]
The wrinkles and grooves on labial mucosa, called sulci
labiorum, form a characteristic pattern known as lip prints.
The study of lip prints is referred to as cheiloscopy. Similar
to fingerprints, lip print is also unique to an individual.[2]
In 1902, R. Fischer described the system of furrows on the
red part of human lips. In 1932, E. Locard, one of Frances
greatest criminologists, recommended the use of lip prints
in personal identification and criminalization. In 1950,
Synder[3] mentioned in his Textbook of Homicide Investigation
that the lip grooves are individually distinct as finger
prints. In 1967, Suzuki investigated the measurement of
the lips, the use and color of rouge, and the method for
its extraction to obtain useful data for practical forensic
application.[4] Later, in 1970, Suzuki and Tsuchihashi
conducted a study on 107 Japanese families and named
the grooves on labiorum rurorum as sulci labiorum and the
lip prints consisting of these grooves as Figura linearum
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labiorum rubrorum.[5] In 1972, McDonnell conducted a

study on lip prints between two identical twins, and reported
that two identical twins seemed to be indistinguishable
by every other means but their lip prints were different.[6]
In 1981, Cottone reported in his book Outline of Forensic
Dentistry that cheiloscopy is one of the special techniques
used for personal identification.[7] In 1990, Kasprzak
conducted a research for a period of 5years on 1500 persons
to elaborate the practical use of cheiloscopy.[8] In 1999, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI) and the Illinois State
Police considered that lip prints are unique like fingerprints
and are a positive means of identification.[9,10]
Recently, in the year 2000, Vahanwala conducted a study
of lip patterns to promote the importance of cheiloscopy in
forensic science identification.[11]
A dental surgeon has to be involved in various objectives of
forensic dentistry like age and sex determination, personal
identification of unknown deceased person, analyzing bite
marks as evidence, participating in mass disaster, studying
lip prints, and giving evidence as his evidence would be
very useful in law and justice.

Aims and objectives

Our study was performed to find the potential for
determination of sex of an individual from the
configuration of lip prints. The middle parts of upper lip
and lower lip were studied for unique lip prints.
Address for Correspondence:

DOI:
10.4103/2249-9725.127078

48

Dr.Karthikeyan Ramalingam,
Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Dentistry,
SebhaUniversity, Sebha, Libya.
Email:drrkn79@gmail.com

Universal Research Journal of Dentistry January-April 2014 Vol 4 Issue 1

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Kinra, etal.: Cheiloscopy for sex determination

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A study sample of 40patients in the age group20-30years
were chosen from the outpatient department of Jaipur
Dental College, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. The study
sample comprised 20males and 20females. Ablindfolded
study was carried out by two investigators and the
percentage agreement was 90%. The inclusion criterion
was normal lips without any congenital malformations
or traumatic injuries or infectious disease. Patients with
congenital lip lesions, medical history of disease in lips or
traumatic injuries, and known hypersensitivity to lipstick
were excluded from the study sample.
The armamentarium included lipstick, brush, scissors,
magnifying glass, cellophane tape, and white bond
paper[Figure1]. Adark color lip stick was evenly
applied using the brush on both the lips(upper and
lower lips) till the vermilion border. The lip impression
was made on a strip of cellophane tape on the glued/
sticky portion[Figure2]. The tape with the lip print was

stuck on to a sheet of white bond paper, which served

as a permanent record[Figures3 and 4]. The lip prints
obtained were coded keeping in account the name and sex
of the respective individuals. At the time of analysis, the
sex of the print was not disclosed.
The lip prints were visualized using a magnifying glass.
The lines and furrows present, their length, branching,
and combinations were noted.
The results obtained were verified from the coded
data collected at the beginning of the study. The data
were assessed for statistical significance using SPSS
version17.0.2.

RESULTS
Using Tsuchihashis study on the interpretation of lip print
pattern,[12] sex determination was correctly made in 15(75%)
males and 12(60%) females[Table1, Graphs 1 and 2].
TypeIII was the most predominant pattern considering

Figure1: Armamentarium used for recording lip prints

Figure2: Obtaining lip print from the subject

Figure3: Lip print record

Figure4: Lip print record

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Kinra, etal.: Cheiloscopy for sex determination

both upper and lower lips and both sexes. In males,

the predominant type was TypeIII(65%) followed by
TypeIV. In females, TypeI, TypeI', and TypeII were
observed[Table2, Graph3].
Chisquare test did notshow a significant difference
on comparing between males and females, with a
Pvalue of 0.31 [Graph4].
But on comparison of lip print patterns and sex
identification with Z test, a significant correlation was
noted between TypeIII pattern and males and TypeI/I'
pattern and females.
When TypeIII pattern was compared with the two groups,
the Zscore was 4.5185 and the Pvalue was 0. The result
was significant at P<0.05. The proportion of yes or no
responses for observation 1 was 0.75. The proportion for
observation 2 was 0.05.
When TypeI/I' pattern was compared, the Zscore
was 3.7134 and the Pvalue was 0.0001. The result was
significant at P<0.05. The proportion of yes or no
responses for observation 1 was 0.6. The proportion for
observation 2 was 0.05.
The other parameters did not achieve statistical
significance.

DISCUSSION
Santos[13] was the first person to classify lip grooves in
1967. He divided them into four types, namely, straight
line, curved line, angled line, and sineshaped curve.
Tsuchihashis classification of lip prints was used for
analysis, which is as follows:[12] the clearcut vertical
grooves that run across the entire lips are classified
as TypeI; grooves similar to TypeI but do not cover
the entire lip as TypeI'; branched grooves(branching
Yshaped pattern) as TypeII; crisscross pattern, reticular
grooves as TypeIII; undetermined grooves as TypeIV,
reticular pattern as TypeVA, and other patterns as
TypeVI.
For classification, the middle part of the lower lip
(about 10mm wide) was taken as the study area, as
proposed by Sivapathasundharam etal.[2] Since this
fragment is almost always visible in any trace, the
determination of the pattern depends on numerical
Table1: Percentage of correct identification with lip prints
Total
Males
Females
Total
sample

Correct
Wrong
Percentage of
identification identification correct identification

20
20
40

15
12
27

5
8
13

75
60
67.5

Table2: Prevalence of various patterns

Males(n=20)
Females(n=20)
Total sample (n=40)

Type I/I'

Type II

Type III

Type IV

0
12
12

0
8
8

13
0
13

7
0
7

Graph1: Identification rates

Graph2: Success percentage

Graph3: Prevalence of various patterns

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Graph 4: Statistical analysis

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Kinra, etal.: Cheiloscopy for sex determination

superiority of the line properties in this area. Gender

was determined as follows: Dominance of Types I and I'
patterns as female, dominance of Types I and II patterns
as female, presence of TypeIII pattern as male, and
TypeIV showing varied patterns as male. Determination
of the pattern depends on numerical superiority of the
line properties of the study area.
Lip prints are very useful in forensic investigation and
personal identification. They are considered the most
important forms of transfer evidence, and are analogous
to fingerprints.[12] Lip prints are usually left at crime
scenes, and can provide a direct link to the suspect. In
recent years, lipsticks have been developed that do not
leave any visible trace after contact with surfaces such
as glass, clothing, cutlery, or cigarette butts.[14] These
lip prints are characterized by their permanence and
are, therefore, referred to as persistent lip prints.
Although invisible, these prints can be lifted using
materials such as aluminum powder and magnetic
powder. The use of lipsticks is not indispensable for
leaving lip prints. The edges of the lips have sebaceous
glands, with sweat glands in between. Thus, secretions
of oil and moisture from them enable the development
of latent lip prints, analogous to latent fingerprints.
Even though the lines and furrows are present in both
upper and lower lips from one corner of the mouth to
the other, only the middle portion in the lip is taken
into account since this portion is always visible in any
traces.[15,16]
Our study showed 75% accuracy in identifying males
and 60% accuracy in identifying females. The overall
accuracy of sex identification was 67.5% in our study.
In this study, participants in the age range of 20-30years
were selected, so as to rule out chance of error in the
interpretation of the sex of an individual related to
specific age.
According to a study by Vahanwahal etal.,[16] TypeI and
TypeI' patterns were found to be dominant in females,
while Types III and IV patterns were dominant in males.
The study by Naik etal.[17] showed that TypeIV pattern
was the most prevalent in males and TypeI/I' pattern
was the most prevalent in females. In our study, TypeIII
pattern was most prevalent in males and it was also
statistically significant. TypeI/I' was most prevalent in
females and it was also statistically significant.

Universal Research Journal of Dentistry January-April 2014 Vol 4 Issue 1

Another study by Vahanwahal and Parekh[11] showed that

all four quadrants of the same type were predominantly
encountered in females, whilst male subjects revealed the
presence of different patterns in a single individual.

CONCLUSION
Lip prints are promising as a supplementary tool along
with other modes to recognize the sex of an individual.
If the sex of an individual is known, it is easy to shortlist
the array of suspects with motives of crime. Present study
beholds the potential for determination of sex. Though
the results obtained in the study do not prove this to be an
infallible method, it does assure to go one step further closer
to the truth. We recommend a study on larger sample size
to verify our results and contribute to the forensic database.

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How to cite this article: Kinra M, Ramalingam K, Sethuraman S, Rehman

F, Lalawat G, Pandey A. Cheiloscopy for Sex Determination: A Study. Univ
Res J Dent 2014;4:48-51.
Source of Support: Nil, Conflict of Interest: None declared

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