Forensic Science, 3 (1974) 233-248

0 Elsevier Sequoia S.A., Lausanne - Printed in The Netherlands

STUDIES ON PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION BY MEANS OF LIP PRINTS

YASUO TSUCHIHASHI
Department of Forensic Odontology, Tokyo Dental College, Tokyo (Japan)

SUMMARY

1. No lip print showed the same pattern in the investigation of 1364 Japanese subjects
(757 males and 607 females) 3-60 years old.
2. The observation of the lip prints of 49 pairs of uniovular twins resulted in the
finding that although the lip print patterns of the uniovular twins are duplicate, in detail
no two of them are exactly identical.
3. The lip prints of the same individuals were investigated every month for three years
to see whether the lip prints are permanent or not. None showed any change throughout
this period.
4. Because they may have the same qualifications as finger prints, lip prints are con-
sidered to be a new important area of use in criminal search and genetic studies.

INTRODUCTION

The traditional methods for personal identification include anthropometry, finger

prints, sex determination, estimation of age, measurement of height, identification with a
specific individual, and differentiation by blood groups. These methods have proved
successful in many cases 1-3 . In particular, odontology has been used extensively for per-
sonal identification. Findings in the teeth have been extremely useful in this field3 ,
since the tooth is the hardest tissue in the human body and is extremely resistant to
chemical and physical agents. Dental identification is becoming increasingly important
not only in legal medicine but also in criminal investigation and identification and in
genetic research.
There are many techniques of personal identification. Suzuki et aL4 made detailed
investigations of the measurement of the lips, the use and color of rouge, its differentia-
tion from a blood stain, and the method for its extraction to obtain useful data for
practical forensic application. It was observed that lip prints made by rouge varied from
person to person. A study was accordingly developed by the author and his co-workers to
see whether this might be of use in personal identification5-8. Snyder’ pointed out that
234 Y. TSUCHIHASHI

the normal lines and fissures in lips show individual variations as do finger prints.
Santos ’’ proposed a classification of the wrinkles and grooves in the lips that might be
utilized in personal identiGcation. He divided the labial wrinkles and grooves into simple
and compound types. The simple wrinkles and grooves are subdivided into those with (1)
a straight line, (2) a curved line, (3) an angled line, and (4) a sine-shaped curve. The
compound wrinkles and grooves may be bifurcated, trifurcated, or anomalous. Despite
such a detailed classification of these features, no investigation seems to have been made
of chronological changes or hereditary factors. Therefore, to develop a new method of
personal identification, the following investigations were undertaken to clarify whether
absolute dissimilarity, changeability throughout life, and the hereditary factors similar to
those of finger prints can be proved for the prints made by human lips.

Description of lip prints

The wrinkles and grooves in the ruddy part and the zone of transition of the human
lips have not been given anatomical names within the range of investigation made by the
author. Therefore, the author named them “sulci labiorum rubrorum” since these struc-
tures are grooves. The figure formed by these sulci was called “figura linearum labiorum
rubrorum”, ie. in general “lip print”.

Clmsijication of lip prints

In contradistinction to the classification of Santos, the lip prints were classified by the
author into six types according to the shape and course of the grooves (Fig. 1).
Type I: Clear-cut grooves running vertically across the lip.
Type I’: The grooves are straight but disappear half-way instead of covering the entire
breadth of the lip.
Type II: The grooves fork in their course.
Type III: The grooves intersect.
Type IV: The grooves are reticulate.
Type V: The grooves do not fall into any of the Types I-IV, and cannot be differen-
tiated morphologically.
Using this classification and employing the dental formula generally used, the classified
types were recorded and called the pattern of the lip print. A horizontal line was drawn
to distinguish the upper from the lower lip (y-~3, and a median line to divide the left

Type I: The grooves are straight and run across the entire breadth of the ruddy part of the lip.
IDENTIFICATION BY LIP PRINTS 23.5

Type II: The grooves are branched.

Type III: The grooves intersect.

Type IV: The grooves form a network.

Type V: The grooves do not belong to Types I-IV and cannot be differentiated morphologically.

Fig. 1. Classification of lip prints.

 236 Y. TSUCHIHASHI

Y Y’

X’

Fig. 2. The lip print pattern. X-X’, the median line. Y-Y ‘, the horizontal line.

and the right sides (x-x3; these two lines intersected at right angles. By noting the
classified types of grooves, the individual’s lip print pattern was recorded (Fig. 2).

MATERIALS ANb METHODS

Materials

(1.) The subjects employed for the investigation of lip prints were 1364 inhabitants of
the metropolitan and rural prefectures of Tokyo, Kanagawa, and Saitama in Japan (757
males and 607 females) whose ages ranged between 3 and 60 years (Table I). Subjects
with inflammation, trauma, malformation, deformity and surgical scars (e.g. operation for
cleft palate) and other abnormalities of the lips were excluded because of their unsuita-
bility for this investigation.
(2.) Those subjects used in the investigation for the existence of hereditary factors

TABLE I

AGE AND SEX DISTRIBUTION OF SUBJECTS

Sex Total

Male Female

O-10 132 103 235

11-20 206 96 302
21-30 156 137 293
31-40 166 150 316
41-50 65 76 141
51-60 32 45 71

Total: 151 607 1364

IDENTIFICATION BY LIP PRINTS 23’1

TABLE II

DATA ON THE TWINS

Oviparity 1968 1970 1971 Total

Male Female Male Female Male Female

EZ 9 9 3 8 12 8 49
zz 0 0 2 0 1 0 3
PZ 0 1 0 1

Total: 18 14 21 53

were groups each composed of 4 persons, i.e. child A, child B, and both their parents.
Their lip prints were taken at the time of the children’s entrance into the twins’ class in
the junior high school attached to the University of Tokyo. There were 18 groups (72
people) in 1969, 14 groups (56 people) in 1970, and 21 groups (84 people) in 1971; a
total of 53 groups (212 people) of twin families (Table II).
(3.) To investigate whether the lip print pattern remains unchanged or not, monthly
data were obtained from 3 males and 4 females for 3 years by duplicating their lip prints,
using a finger printer (made in the USA), while daily data (excepting Sundays and
holidays) were obtained from 3 females for 9 weeks by taking photographs with a
Medical Nikkor (f200 mm, lens 1:5.6) camera.

Methods

Since recording data is an extremely important requirement for this study, various
methods of taking lip prints were tried, including that developed by Suzuki et al. lo, as
well as the method of taking an impression and preparing casts with different impression
materials used in dentistry. Finally it was decided to adopt the following methods uni-
formly because human lips are so mobile that the strength or the direction of the pressure
applied can affect the accuracy of the lip print taken.

Photography
The materials were prepared by taking half-size photographs of the lips with a Medical
Nikkor camera and enlarging to double size. Life-size photographs were thus obtained
(see Fig. 3). In this procedure, the females were asked to wipe off the rouge well, and it
was ensured that the subjects were calm.

Use of a finger printer

Although the roller method using special ink has been in general use for taking finger
prints, recently a finger printer developed by Hollister Co. (USA) has become more
238 Y. TSUCHIHASHI

Fig. 3. Example of a photograph of a lip print.

Fig. 4. Example of a lip print taken by the finger printer.

popular because it can be used to take finger prints clearly and simply without staining
the fingers. This method was therefore adopted to obtain lip print records. With this
device, the special paper was applied directly to the lips to record the pattern of the lip
print. The object being the human mouth, special attention was paid to cleanliness and
hygiene at each recording, which was done with the subject’s consent. Fig. 4 shows an
example of a lip print taken in this way.
The lip prints obtained by these methods were traced onto cellophane paper and
examined with a magnifying glass. The type of the lip print was then ascertained and
entered according to the dental formula already mentioned.

RESULTS

The lip print patterns from 22 male and 42 female inhabitants of Yokohama were
classified on the presupposition that the aforementioned types of lip print appear singly
in individuals, with results as follows. Type I: 6 males (27.3%), 11 females (26.2%). Type
II: 4 males (18.2%), 10 females (23.8%). Type III: 7 males (31.3%), 14 females (33.3%).
Type IV: 3 males (13.6%), 5 females (11.9%). Type V: 2 males (9.1%), 2 females (4.8%).
Closer inspection revealed, however, that the lip print did not consist simply of one
type alone, but appeared as a mixture of varying types. Furthermore, the existence of the
grooves that disappear half-way among those of Type I cases was recognized and, with the
addition of Type I’, the basic classification of the lip print came to consist of 6 types. It
was considered most useful to note the pattern by recording each type of groove as in a
dental formula.

Dissimilarity of the lip print

It is a matter of great consequence whether lip prims are absolutely dissimilar or not,
IDENTIFICATION BY LIP PRINTS

Fig. 5. Lip prints of a pair of uniovular twins and their parents.

This investigation was therefore made on 1364 people. The subjects’ lip prints were
recorded by the aforementioned methods, the pattern of each individual’s lip print being
studied very closely for its characteristics. It was found that no two lip prints were
identical. It was therefore considered that one would be justified in saying that each of
the 1364 subjects has his or her own lip print.

Heredity and lip print

The lip prints of the twins and their parents gave the following results.
H;or each pair of twins, the lip prints were nearly always the same. Comparison of the
detailed characteristics, however, showed that even those pairs of lips which had been
judged as identical were not absolutely identical. Also, the lip prints of the twins fre-
quently showed patterns extremely similar to those of their parents, and it was note-
 240 Y. TSUCHIHASHI

1 EZ 2 EZ 3 EZ

1’1 ! I I’
a 1’1 I 1 I’m
-&#+*~~+$#--+-j-$
7 EZ 8 EZ 9 EZ

3 KZ 11 EZ 12 EZ
BMNqSe v Abl$SC BMqSe cy OX& AhlNQSe v AMNqSe

OhlqSr BMNqSe BMNqSe AMS’qSe d

I EZ 14 EZ 15 EZ

EZ 17 EZ 18 EZ
ANQSe w-, ABMNQSe AMNqSe ST- BMNQSe OMNQSe e OMXqSe

ANWe ABblqSc AB>k,Se OMKQSr \_J OMNQSe

 IDENTIFICATION BY LIP PRINTS

22 EZ 23 EZ 24 EZ
ANqSe~ AhK&

26 EZ 26 EZ 27EZ

AMNQSd] AMNQSe BNnSe,) I',BNqSe

ItILl nl~In
I'II Nl'l I I l'n

28 EZ 29EZ 30EZ
_

32EZ
31 EZ

ABMNqSe<j ,,?ABMiWe
 242 Y. TSUCHIHASHI

7 EZ 3S EZ 39 EZ

3 EZ 44 EZ 45 EZ

i E% 4'7EZ 48 EZ
OhlqSe
Ed OMQSe OMsSelJr<: OMNQSe AMNqSe cv A!vKiqSe

I \ AhlN4Se
OMQSe(; ,‘;1
OhlQSe OMNQSe b ci OMNQSe AMNqSe (3 3

+f+&-w --rEts
3 EZ 50 zz 51 zz
AMQSe + Ahlqse BNQSee ANQSe AMNQSe gT AM&

ANQSe ANQSe AMNQSe AMNQSe

nmimo
LII’L II L’U

2 zz 53PZ
BMKQSe~T BMKqSr OMNnSeUli- AMNQSe

Fig. 6. Lip prints and blood groups of twins and their parents.
IDENTIFICATION BY LIP PRINTS 243

First day 6 Months

1 Year 1% Years

2 Years 2% Years

3 Years

Fig. 7. Chronological observation of a lip print, using the finger printer.

244 Y. TSUCHIHASHI

worthy that, taking into consideration the hereditary factors concerning blood groups,
the results indicated the existence of heredity in the lip print (Figs 5 and 6).
In Fig. 6 the blood groups of ABO type, MN type, Q type, part of the Rh type and
secretor and non-secretor types are recorded jointly. They are the result of examinations

First day 1 Week 2 Weeks

3 Weeks 4 Weeks 5 Weeks

I Weeks 8 Weeks

9 Weeks

Fig. 8. Chronological observation of a lip print, using photography.

IDENTIFICATION BY LIP PRINTS 245

made at the Department of Legal Medicine, University of Tokyo, by those investigators in

charge of blood group investigations concerning twins.

Permanence of the lip print

The lip prints of 7 adults (3 males and 4 females) were recorded routinely once a
month for three years for comparative study. No change was observed during this time.
Fig. 7 shows the samples of the lip print of the same individual taken at 6-monthly
intervals.
Fig. 8 illustrates the serial observations made on the lip print every day (except Sun-
days and holidays) for 9 weeks. These observations also revealed no change. One of the
subjects caught a cold during the observation period; the shape of his mouth was slightly
changed and the sulci became somewhat obscured. On recovery, however, the mouth
returned to its original shape, and at the same time the lip print reassumed its former
pattern.

SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION

In criminal investigations the material evidence left at the scene frequently provides
extremely useful data for investigation and identification. Materials such as blood, body
fluid and hair, and prints of fingers, palms and soles have led to the solution of many
difficult cases.
Worthy of note as providing an additional weapon for personal identification is the
series of forensic odontological studies made by the author and his co-workers on the
morphology of female lips and the use of rouge, for which we use the technical term
“figura linearum labiorum rubrorum” for the pattern made by the groove on the lip.
At the Fourth International Meeting in Forensic Medicine held in Copenhagen in
August 1966, Dr. Martins Santos of Brazil presented his classification
of the labial wrin-
kles and grooves and the application of these characteristics to personal identification’ I.
At that time Professor Kazuo Suzuki added his own finding that, during his observations
of female lips and the pattern produced by rouge, he recognized considerable individual
variations in the lip print. Since then an exchange of information on the subject has been
carried on between Dr. Santos and Professor Suzuki. It seems, however, that Dr. Santos’
study stopped at the point of the initial classification and the suggestion of its being
useful in personal identification.
A study to develop the method of personal identification by means of lip prints was
subsequently taken up by the author, considering what have been called wrinkles, fissures
and grooves which are present in the ruddy part and the zone of transition of the lip.
With the assistance of Professor Ushinosuke Kaneko of the Department of Anatomy,
Nippon Medical College ’‘, these grooves in the lip print were named “sulci labiorum
ruborum”, and the resulting pattern “tigura liniae labiorum ruborum”. At the Fifth
International Meeting of Forensic Sciences, after correcting part of the words according
246 Y.TSUCHIHASHI

to the advice given by Dr. John k. Penistan of Canada, the technical terms for these
structures were formally decided as “sulci labiorum rubrorum”, and “figura linearurn
labiorum rubrorum”.
At first the lip prints were divided into five types. An investigation of 64 subjects (22
males and 42 females) from 20 to 30 years old and living in Yokohama, revealed that in
both sexes Type III was commonest, followed in order by Type I, Type II, Type IV and
Type V. A more detailed examination, however, revealed that each type never appears
singly, but occurs in combination with other types. The classification was therefore
improved by adding Type I’and adopting the system of a dental formula; this was named
as Tsuchihashi’s classification of the lip print.
In April 1969, when the author reported a brief outline of this study at the 53rd
Conference of the Medico-Legal Society of Japan, an additional finding was supplied by
Professor Saburo Kakizumi of Kyushu University. In September 1970, the latter wrote
the author a letter’ 3 informing him that Dr. Kazuo Ebihara14 had reported on the
dissimilarity of kiss marks in October 1959, at the report meeting of scientific research on
identification held by the Kyushu District Police Agency. This report stated that in order
to clarify the dissimilarity of kiss marks in relation to a suspected case of theft, kiss marks
were obtained using rouge from 30 adults (27 males and 3 females). A comparison
revealed that each kiss mark showed a different pattern. It is a matter of regret that this
report was not known to the author because it was not published in any scientific
magazine.
In June 1969, part of this study was presented by Professor K. Suzuki at the Fifth
International Meeting of Forensic Sciences held in Toronto, Canada. It drew a great deal
of attention and follow-up experiments are now being made not only in Japan but also in
other countries ’5-1 * .
In general, because the lip print is on the ruddy part, or the zone of transition, of the
lips, which are extremely mobile, it may differ in appearance according to the pressure,
direction and method used in taking the lip print, frequently becoming mistaken for that
of another person. Basically, however, Type I never appears like Type II. Therefore, the
classification of the lip print is valuable in reducing the number of items to be compared,
and the discernment of identity should be made, as in the case of finger prints, ultimately
by finding characteristic points to establish the diagnosis. The combination of the six
types of groove is, theoretically, 66 X 4, and if they are entered in the dental formula the
advisable method is to select first by the first numerals from the median line, and then,
focusing on the chief construction of the second group of grooves, to compare the
peculiarities and the details with the control.
The lips which were studied in the present investigation were only those which had no
inflammatory disease, trauma, malformation, deformity or scars. However, these abnor-
malities themselves are identification marks. It is difficult to decide the pattern of the lip
prints when inflammation is present in the hp. It has been observed, however, that after
healing the lip print reassumes its own pattern in the healthy condition; this fact alone
indicates the permanence of the lip print.
IDENTIFICATION BY LIP PRINTS 241

With regard to the dissimilarity of the lip print, as far as the 1364 subjects used in thi:s
study are concerned, there were no two identical lip prints. This means that each human
lip print has its own individual characteristics, and although the numbers SO far studied
are relatively small, it is noteworthy that the data indicate a strong possibility of the
absolute dissimilarity of lip prints. Therefore, it may be concluded that the lip print can
be used as one of the techniques for identification in the field of forensic odontology.
In the investigation of heredity in the lip print, the data were obtained at the twins’
classes in the Junior High School of the University of Tokyo, from where the data on
twins are well known for their high reliability. The observations are made at the entrance
physical examination when the twins join the study group of the University specializing
in twins. Data on the blood groups of the same individuals were available for reference;
this was extremely valuable in the genetic research on the lip print.
The oviparity diagnosis was performed by comparing similar factors, especially the
similarity of lip prints. Uniovular twins had lip-print patterns which looked exactly the
same in nearly all the cases, while the rest were extremely similar. Furthermore, the lip
prints of the twins resembled very much that of either one of their parents, indicating to
some extent the same tendency of the appearance of similarity in their blood groups.
These data may be regarded as a strong confirmation of the assumption that there is
heredity in the lip print.
Furthermore, the dissimilarity in the details of the figura, even in the twins whose
patterns duplicated, signifies a powerful basis to suppose that the lip print has absolute
dissimilarity.
In the genetic investigation it was observed that the lip-print pattern in the nodular
part of the upper lip especially suggests genetic potential between the parent and child,
brothers and sisters. Further investigation of this matter would be of interest.
As to the permanence of the lip print, although the number of cases examined was
small, there was no change in their patterns throughout the 3-year period of observation.
For practical purposes this may be useful in a criminal search where the unchanged
pattern even for a 6-month period would be helpful.
The classification and observation of the dissimilarity, permanence and heredity of the
lip print have resulted in some useful data. Progress in research in this area will contribute
not merely to its direct use in personal identification in forensic medicine and odontolo-
gy, but will also open up a new field that can contribute extensively to criminal investiga-
tion and identification, the establishment of parenthood and studies on human genetics.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author would like to express his appreciation to Professor Kazuo Suzuki, Director
of the Department of Forensic Odontology, Tokyo Dental College, and to Professor
Ushinosuke Kaneko, Nihon Medical College, Dr. John I,. Penistan, Ontario Regional
Pathologist, Canada, and Professors Eiji Inoue and Kichihei Yamazawa, University of
Tokyo, Faculty of Medicine.
248 Y. TSUCHIHASHI

REFERENCES

1 T. Furuhata, KanmeiHoigaku, Kimbara Shuppansha, Tokyo, 1964, pp. 104-119.

2 Sho. Ueno, Shin Hoigaku, Nanzando, Tokyo, 1969, pp. 191-223.
3 K. Suzuki, Hoshigaku, Gendai Shobo, Tokyo, 1964, pp, 31-176.
4 K. Suzuki, H. Suzuki and Y. Tsuchihashi, On the female lips and rouge, Shikwa Gakuho, 67
(1967) 471.
5 Y. Tsuchihashi and K. Suzuki, Studies on the lip print I.,Shikwa Gakuho, 68 (1968) 60-61.
6 K. Suzuki, Y. Tsuchihashi and H. Suzuki, A trial of personal identification by means of lip print I.,
Jap. J. Leg. Med., 22 (1968) 392.
7 K. Suzuki and Y. Tsuchihashi, A trial of personal identification by means of lip print II., Jap. J.
Leg. Med., 23 (1969) 324-325.
8 K. Suzuki and Y. Tsuchihashi, Studies on the lip print II.,Shikwa Gakuho, 70 (1970) 498-499.
9 L. Snyder, Homicide Investigation, Thomas, Springfield, Ill., 1950, p. 65.
10 K. Suzuki, H. Suzuki and Y. Tsuchihashi, A new technique to print the scar of the cut found in
the skin,Shikwa Gakuho, 68 (1968) 319-320.
11 M. Santos, Queiloscopy, A supplementary stomatological means of identification, Int. Microform
J. Leg. Med., 2 (1967).
12 U. Kaneko, personal communication, 1967.
13 S. Makizumi, personal communication, 1970.
14 K. Ebihara, personal communication, 1971.
15 K. Suzuki and Y. Tsuchihashi, A new attempt for personal identification by means of lip print,
Int. Microform J. Leg. Med., 4 (1969).
16 K. Suzuki and Y, Tsuchihashi, New attempt of personal identification by means of lip print, J.
Indian Dent. Assoc., 42 (1970) 8-P.
17 K. Suzuki and Y. Tsuchihashi, Personal identification by means of lip prints, J. Forens. Med., 17
(1970) 52-57.
18 K. Suzuki and Y. Tsuchihashi, A new attempt of personal identification by means of lip print,
Can. Sot. Forens. Sci. J., 4 (1971) 1544158.