Downloaded from www.medrech.com “Duplicating palatine rugae in complete denture prosthesis to enhance the relationship between food and taste receptors” Mattoo K. et al., Med. Res. Chron., 2014, 1 (2), 150-155 Medico Research Chronicles, 2014 150 DUPLICATING PALATINE RUGAE IN COMPLETE DENTURE PROSTHESIS TO ENHANCE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FOOD AND TASTE RECEPTORS Dr Khurshid Mattoo 1* , Dr Shujaurahman 2 , Dr Pooja Arora 3 1 * Assistant Professor, Department of Prosthodontics, College of dentistry, Jazan University, KSA 2 Practitioner,Muzzafarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India 3 Professor, Department of Prosthodontics, Subharti dental college, Subharti University, Meerut, India Case Report Medrech ISSN No. 2394-3971 Submitted on: November 2014 Accepted on: December 2014 For Correspondence Email ID: Abstract Among the various anatomical landmarks of the oral cavity Palatine rugae are perhaps one of the least understood or unexplored regions of the oral mucous membrane. Due to this, they have been arbitrarily associated with functions like speech, adaptation, proprioception and taste. However the mere fact that they are one of the earliest developing parts of the oral cavity and persist throughout life with minor or no change should raise a doubt in anyone’s mind. This article in the form of a clinical case report presents its role in enhancing tongues ability to taste sour food besides presenting a simple technique to duplicate the existing palatine rugae in complete denture prosthesis. Key words: acquired taste, taste buds, flavors, denture, sour food. Introduction Characterizing complete denture prosthesis to fulfill patient expectation is an aspect of dental science that requires exploration beyond the limits of Prosthodontics. Advances in forensic dentistry like chelioscopy and rugoscopy have generated renewed interest in the significance of these soft tissue landmarks which were thought to hardly have any importance. 1,2 Palatal rugae, also called plicae palatinae transversae and rugae palatina, refer to the ridges on the anterior part of the palatal mucosa, each side of the median palatal raphe and behind the incisive papilla. 3,4 Palatine rugae are elevations of the mucous membrane and are very prominent in most of the animals where they help in gripping the food before tearing it with brute force. In humans, however their role has been arbitrarily attributed to functions like mastication and swallowing, phonetics, suction and more recently forensic dentistry. 5-8 During earlier years, its role in phonetics was mainly stressed by Prosthodontists who were treating patients with complete denture prosthesis although no experimental evidence exists to support their consideration as a speech organ. 9-11 Prosthodontists however, have managed to prove that increase or decrease in the thickness of the denture in the region of Palatine rugae alters speech sounds. 12-15 Most of the studies done related to palatine