Title
A comparative analysis of lip print patterns for sex determination and permanency using lipstick, latent and digital methods in North Bihar
Authors
Sumanta Kumar Kolay1, Rohit Sharma1,*, Ajit Kumar Chaudhary2, Sunil Sharma3, Keerti Bhardwaj4 & Neetha Bhargava5
Affiliation
1Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology & Microbiology, Nims Dental College & Hospital, Nims University Rajasthan, Jaipur, India; 2Department of Pathology, Madhubani Medical College and Hospital, Madhubani, Bihar, India; 3Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Nims Dental College & Hospital, Nims University Rajasthan, Jaipur, India; 4Department of Anatomy, Jaipur National University Institute for Medical Sciences, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India; 5Department of Periodontology, Nims Dental College & Hospital, Nims University Rajasthan, Jaipur, India; *Corresponding author
Sumanta Kumar Kolay - E-mail: sumanta.kolay@yahoo.com
Rohit Sharma - E-mail: rohit.80@hotmail.com
Ajit Kumar Chaudhary - E-mail: ajitpathodmc@gmail.com
Sunil Sharma - E-mail: provc@nimsuniversity.org
Keerti Bhardwaj - E-mail: keerticheena@gmail.com
Neetha Bhargava - E-mail: veekshya@gmail.com
Article Type
Research Article
Date
Received October 1, 2025; Revised October 31, 2025; Accepted October 31, 2025, Published October 31, 2025
Abstract
Forensic identification often relies on fingerprints, but their absence necessitates alternative tools such as lip prints (cheiloscopy). Therefore, it is of interest to evaluate the permanency of lip prints over one year and compared three recording methods—lipstick, latent prints and digital photography—for sex determination in the North Bihar population. Hence participants were assessed at baseline, 6 months and 12 months using Suzuki and Tsuchihashi classification. Lip print patterns remained stable over time with no significant intra- or inter-method differences and sex determination accuracy ranged from 63.8% to 67.2% across methods. Thus, we show lip prints are permanent and recording methods equally effective, though accuracy in sex determination requires further enhancement for forensic reliability.
Keywords
Cheiloscopy, lip prints, sex determination, forensic identification, permanency, Suzuki classification
Citation
Kolay et al. Bioinformation 21(10): 3936-3940 (2025)
Edited by
Hiroj Bagde
ISSN
0973-2063
Publisher
License
This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
