Skin Carvings: Predictive Diagnosis in Modern Era.

The science and art of markings of the skin especially hands and feet’s is known as dermatoglyphics, where derma means skin and glyph mean carving. For centuries, the features of the hands have fascinated scholars, sages, theologians, doctors, and layman alike. In 1926 Cummins introduced the term “dermatoglyphics.” “Samudra Shastra” was known as ridge pattern study in ancient India. The epidermal ridge patterns were classified into “Chakra, Shankya, and Padma” which corresponds with the whorl, loop, and arch system of modern classification. All individuals have unique fingerprints which remain unchanged over the lifetime. Multiple genes determine fingerprint configurations and the study of fingerprints reveal vital genetic and medical information about an individual. Dermatoglyphics is considered as the window of congenital abnormalities and is a sensitive indicator of intrauterine anomalies. For preliminary investigations in conditions with a suspected genetic basis dermatoglyphic analysis is now beginning to prove itself as an extremely useful tool. In dentistry, various studies have been published on the dermatoglyphics. Here in this present review, the dermatoglyphic patterns of the palms and soles, the methods to record the palm and sole prints and various studies conducted among the dental disorders has been highlighted.