Unravelling the myth- Dermatoglyphics in Oral potentially malignant disorders

Introduction: Dermatoglyphics has been studied in many diseases for underlying genetic susceptibility. Most of the people are affected with potentially malignant disorders (PMDs) of the oral cavity like oral sub mucous fibrosis (OSMF), oral leukoplakia (OL), and lichen planus. It seems likely that a genetic predisposition could be an underlying mechanism. Aim: The present study aims to determine the association between dermatoglyphics and occurrence of potentially malignant disorders. Materials and methods: Finger prints and palm prints were studied on 40 subjects who were divided into four groups: Group 1 consisted of 10 patients without any evidence of oral lesions that served as controls. Group 2 had 10 patients with lichenplanus. In group 3, 10 patients with presence of oral submuocus fibrosis and group 4, 10 patients with leukoplakia were included. Finger and palm prints were taken by the ink method. Results: Krusk-wallis test, Mann Whitney test was performed to compare finger print patterns and ATD angle between cases and controls. It was observed that the whorl patterns (47%) were pre-dominant with a decrease in arch pattern (11%) in group 1when compared with the other case groups. The study group demonstrated decreased ATD angle as compared to the controls and the result was found to be highly significant (P < 0.01). Conclusion: Dermatoglyphics can be implemented as a screening tool in patients with PMDs. It may act as an adjunct tool in screening patients who are at increased risk of developing potentially malignant disorders.