Abstract Identification of a Human Being is an extremely important process based on scientiûc principles, which mainly in the present scenario involves ûnger printing. The main point used in the analysis of ûnger prints is the accepted theoretical knowledge of its Uniqueness in each individual that can be used as a piece of evidence in the court of law. Similarly, research in the recent years has proved that even the lip prints are unique of an individual and hence apart from the conventional methods like finger printing, they also behold the potential for identiûcation purpose. Thus, lip prints can be used to verify the presence or absence of a person at the scene of crime. According to the recent literature available, there have been numerous number of cases that have been solved by means of Chelioscopy. Aims: To assess the Uniqueness of Lip Prints in different individuals. Methods and Materials: Dark shaded lip stick, Cellophane tape, White paper, Scissors, Magnifying lens, sanitarytissues. In this study a total of 100 subjects having no deformity or scarring of the Lips were selected. These subjects were asked to give their impressions of their lips with two different shades of lipstick. These two hundred impressions were then randomly shuffled and given to three different observers who were asked to match these Lip Prints. Result: After assessment of the lip prints Quadrant wise, two of the observers were able to correctly match 80% of the Lip Prints and one was able to correctly match 88% of the two set of Lip Prints. Conclusion: A high percentage of correctness indicates that the Lip Prints are quite Unique of each Individual.
Keywords: Cheiloscopy; Lip prints; Forensic dentistry; Anthropometry.