forensic science refers to the area of endeavor that can be used in a judicial setting and accepted by the court and the general scientific community to separate truth from untruth . there are many well - known implanted methods of human identification , one of the most interesting emerging method of human identification which originates from the criminal and forensic practice , is human lips recognition . cheiloscopy is a forensic investigation procedure which deals with human identification based on lip traces . in 1902 , fischer was the first to describe the biological phenomenon of systems of furrows on the red part of human lips . use of lip prints in personal identification and criminalization was first recommended in france by edmond locard . since 1950 , the japanese have carried out extensive research in the matter . based on the research done by two japanese scientists tsuchihashi and suzuki , it was established that the arrangement of lines on the human lips is individual and unique for each human being . mc donell in 1972 conducted a study on lip prints between two identical twins and reported that two identical twins seemed to be indistinguishable by every other mean , but their lip prints were different . cheiloscopy is one of the special techniques used for personal identification was reported by cottone , in 1981 , in his book outline of forensic dentistry . in 1990 , kasprzak conducted research to elaborate the practical use of cheiloscopy . vahanwala in 2000 conducted a study of lip patterns to promote the importance of cheiloscopy in forensic science identification . sivapathasundharam et al . in 2001 studied the incidence of particular lip print patterns in the indo - dravidian population . the objective of this study was to assess the distribution of lip outline pattern among males and females and to evaluate the lip outlines patterns for their uniqueness . in 1902 , fischer was the first to describe the biological phenomenon of systems of furrows on the red part of human lips . use of lip prints in personal identification and criminalization was first recommended in france by edmond locard . since 1950 , based on the research done by two japanese scientists tsuchihashi and suzuki , it was established that the arrangement of lines on the human lips is individual and unique for each human being . mc donell in 1972 conducted a study on lip prints between two identical twins and reported that two identical twins seemed to be indistinguishable by every other mean , but their lip prints were different . cheiloscopy is one of the special techniques used for personal identification was reported by cottone , in 1981 , in his book outline of forensic dentistry . in 1990 , kasprzak conducted research to elaborate the practical use of cheiloscopy . vahanwala in 2000 conducted a study of lip patterns to promote the importance of cheiloscopy in forensic science identification . sivapathasundharam et al . in 2001 studied the incidence of particular lip print patterns in the indo - dravidian population . the objective of this study was to assess the distribution of lip outline pattern among males and females and to evaluate the lip outlines patterns for their uniqueness . a sample of 200 individuals comprising 100 females and100 males were included in the study . the subjects were selected whose lips were free from any pathology such as inflammation , mucocele , cicatrization , and deformities such as cut marks or lesions . informed consent was taken from each of the subjects . to classify the lip outline pattern in this study , the classification scheme proposed by chandrashekaran were : upper lip outline pattern lower lip outline pattern 
 lip liner / lipstick of a bright red color and non glossytransparent cellophane tape , glued on one sidescissorswhite bond paperadhesive tapecottonscalemagnifying lenspen / pencil for labeling the individual details . lip liner / lipstick of a bright red color and non glossy transparent cellophane tape , glued on one side pen / pencil for labeling the individual details . the lips of individuals were cleaned , and a dark red colored lip liner was used to mark upper and lower vermilion border . a lip outline impression was made on strip of cellophane tape on glued portion , by dabbing it in the center first and then pressing it uniformly toward the corners of the lips [ figure 1 ] . the cellophane strip was then stuck to the white chart paper for permanent record purpose and then visualized by magnifying lens [ figure 2 ] . the recording was done by noting outline pattern in both upper and lower lips , in both males and females . taking lip outline pattern on a cellophane tape cellophane tape with lip outline pattern stuck on white chart paper for permanent record a sample of 200 individuals comprising 100 females and100 males were included in the study . the subjects were selected whose lips were free from any pathology such as inflammation , mucocele , cicatrization , and deformities such as cut marks or lesions . to classify the lip outline pattern in this study , the classification scheme proposed by chandrashekaran was followed [ tables 1 and 2 ] . materials used were : upper lip outline pattern lower lip outline pattern 
 lip liner / lipstick of a bright red color and non glossytransparent cellophane tape , glued on one sidescissorswhite bond paperadhesive tapecottonscalemagnifying lenspen / pencil for labeling the individual details . lip liner / lipstick of a bright red color and non glossy transparent cellophane tape , glued on one side pen / pencil for labeling the individual details . the lips of individuals were cleaned , and a dark red colored lip liner was used to mark upper and lower vermilion border . a lip outline impression was made on strip of cellophane tape on glued portion , by dabbing it in the center first and then pressing it uniformly toward the corners of the lips [ figure 1 ] . the cellophane strip was then stuck to the white chart paper for permanent record purpose and then visualized by magnifying lens [ figure 2 ] . the recording was done by noting outline pattern in both upper and lower lips , in both males and females . taking lip outline pattern on a cellophane tape cellophane tape with lip outline pattern stuck on white chart paper for permanent record a total of 200 individuals were included in the study , comprising of 100 males and 100 females each , in the age group of 1725 years . the lip outline pattern obtained from each individual was carefully examined with an illuminated magnifying lens and checked for the pattern . it was observed in our study that ten different upper lip outline patterns in females and nine different patterns in males [ figures 3 and 4 ] . most common upper lip outline pattern in females was uneven peak ( 28.5% ) [ figure 5 ] , followed by twin peak , double convex , dome , flat , butterfly , flying bird , cantilever , butte , suspension bridge , and flat . most common upper lip outline pattern in males was twin peak ( 32.9% ) [ figure 6 ] followed by an uneven peak , double convex , flat , dome , butterfly , suspension bridge , butte , and cantilever . upper lip out line patterns showing ( a ) twin peak ( b ) uneven peak ( c ) flying bird and ( d ) double convex lower lip out line pattern showing ( a ) companulate ( b ) boat ( c ) basin and ( d ) apple bottom lip outline patterns in females showing ( a ) twin peak ( b ) uneven peak ( c ) companulate and ( d ) basin patterns lip outline patterns in males showing ( a ) twin peak ( b ) uneven peak ( c ) boat and ( d ) companulate in males , the most common lower lip outline pattern observed in our study was companulate ( 28.6% ) followed by basin , boat , flat , apple bottom , and concave arc . we observed most common lower lip outline pattern in females was companulate ( 34.4% ) followed by boat , basin , flat , apple bottom , and concave arc . personal identification is required for an unknown deceased person in homicide , suicide , accident , mass disaster , etc . , and for living individual who are missing or culprits hiding their identity . identification can be made by comparing the antimortem record with that of the postmortem record . if a definite description of the different parts of the upper lip and lower lip are established for an individual by detailed study , this antimortem record can be scanned and preserved for matching the details of lip outlines patterns in postmortem records for personal identification . lips are two fleshy folds surrounding the oral orifice , lined externally by the skin and internally by mucosa . the skin is continuous with the mucosa at transitional or vermilion border , a reddish zone covered by thin keratinized epithelium . the junction between the vermilion border and the skin forms the lip outline , produced by characteristic shape in the labial mucosal surface , unique for the individuals like finger prints . these lip outline patterns can be employed in forensic investigations as an adjuvant tool along with the lip prints . the presence of lip outline on materials left in the crime scene is considered as an evidence of a relationship between the suspect and the crime scene . research studies and information regarding the use of lip outline patterns as evidence in personal identification and criminal investigation in forensic dentistry is very much scanty . in spite of few studies available , the study of chandrashekaran gives a standard classification of his own for different types of lip outline patterns . keeping this classification as the basis , the current study was conducted to study the lip outline pattern of different individuals , to establish facts so as to aid in giving further details of lip outline patterns . analysis of lip outline pattern in females showed that ten different upper lip outline patterns . most common upper lip outline pattern in females was uneven peak ( 28.5% ) , [ figure 7 ] followed by twin peak , double convex , dome , flat , butterfly , flying bird , cantilever , butte , suspension bridge , and flat . most common upper lip outline pattern in males was twin peak [ 32.9% ] , followed by uneven peak , double convex , flat , dome , butterfly , suspension bridge , butte , cantilever . common lip outline patterns in females showing ( a ) uneven peak ( b ) twin peak in males , the most common lower lip outline pattern observed was companulate ( 28.6% ) [ figure 8 ] followed by basin , boat , flat , apple bottom , and concave arc . we observed most common lower lip outline pattern in females was companulate ( 34.4% ) followed by boat , basin , flat , apple bottom , and concave arc . common lip outline patterns in males showing ( a ) twin peak ( b ) uneven peak cheiloscopy is a relatively new field among the large number of identification tools available to the forensic expert . lip outlines are unique to an individual and does not change with time so it can also be used as a method for identification further work on the subject can help to make lip outline pattern a practical reality at the ground level of the forensic identification process .