LIP PRINTS CORRELATION COEFFICIENT WITH SKELETAL CLASS I & II MALOCCLUSION.

Aim:To assess the strength of association between lip patterns and skeletal class I and II malocclusion. Materials &Methods: Lip prints of 25 subjects with skeletal Class I and 25 with skeletal Class II malocclusion (age group of 18-35years) were recorded. Results: Statistically significant difference between the two malocclusions were observed in the Vertical and Branched patterns while the intersected, reticular and undermined patters showed no difference. This was evident in the female gender while the male gender showed differences in the vertical pattern only. Conclusion: Since sagittal jaw and dental relationships get established before lip prints, lip print assessment may aid the clinical orthodontist by predicting the type of malocclusion.