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Vermilion Border

Definition

The reddened transition zone between the facial skin and the labial mucosa. It is covered by a thin, partly transparent mucosa that allows the underlying vasculature to show as the characteristic red colour, and its surface carries the grooves used in cheiloscopy.

Related terms

Cheiloscopy
Study of lip prints (Greek cheilos, lip; skopein, to examine). The furrow system on human lips was first described by anthropologist R....
Concordance Criterion
The minimum degree of pattern agreement required before an examiner can report a positive identification. For lip prints, no consensus criterion exists,...
Latent Lip Print
A lip print deposited without lipstick or coloured product, invisible to the eye and requiring chemical or physical development before comparison. Composed...
Lip Print Persistence
The duration over which a deposited lip print remains retrievable from a surface. Affected by surface material, environmental conditions, handling of the...
Suzuki-Tsuchihashi Classification
The 1970 system that divides lip groove patterns into five main types (I, I', II, III, IV, V) based on groove direction,...

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