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Introduction: Dental caries has multifactorial aetiology and recently, role of genetic factors is considered important. ‘Dermatoglyphics’ literally is descriptive of delicately sculpted skin surface, inclusive of single ridges, and their configural arrangements. It can be considered as marker for dental caries as both epithelium of finger buds and enamel are ectodermal in origin and develop during same intrauterine period.

Objective: To record and evaluate finger prints and to explore its correlation with dental caries in children aged 3-5 years.

Materials and Method: An analytical cross-sectional observational study was done from 2022-03-01 to 2022-09-04 in two groups comprising of 160 individuals (80 in each group) of 3-5 years visiting the tertiary care hospital, Kavrepalanchok, Nepal included by convenience sampling. First group had decayed, extracted, and filled teeth due to caries (def ≥1) and second group had def score 0. Dermatoglyphic patterns of all 10 palmar digits were recorded using Cummins and Midlo method and assessed using magnifying glass (2×). For analysis, SPSS v.16 software was used.

Result: On comparison of mean number of patterns, loop and whorl pattern were significantly higher in def ≥1 group as compared to def 0. Same results were demonstrated by correlation test where loop and whorl showed significantly moderate correlation with def status, whereas arch pattern showed strong negative correlation which was also statistically significant.

Conclusion: A significant association between fingerprints and caries was found. Thus, this could be a valuable non-invasive anatomical tool for screening and hence in devising measures for prevention of the disease.

Dental caries; dermatoglyphics; finger prints; genetic.