Predominant pattern of lip prints in Visakhapatnam population

Context: Establishment of a person’s individuality is of significance for legal as well as humanitarian purpose. Lip print is one of the evidence that can be left in the crime scene by which it helps in identification purpose. Thus the investigators can rely on chelioscopy as supportive evidence in specific investigation. Aim: The aim of the study to evaluate the predominant pattern of lip prints in Visakhapatnam population. The objectives of this study were to highlight the importance of lip prints related to forensic investigators for identification, to study the uniqueness of lip prints as like thumb prints in forensic investigations, to study the most common lip print in each individual and to compare the lip print patterns of male and female and to find out sex wise predilection of the lip. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on 900 students of dental college in South India. The lips of the individuals were cleaned and a red colored lip stick was applied evenly, followed by transfer of lip prints using cellophane strip. Data was analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences, Version 7.5) Statistical Package. Results: Type I and type IV were the most predominant lip patterns while type V was the least common pattern observed. There was no statistically observed difference between males and females in individual lip print types. Conclusion: So based on the findings we conclude that no two lip print patterns match each other thus establishing the uniqueness of lip prints.