A complete copy of the upper and lower lips (on letters or mirror) allows not only individual identification (after Rackowitz 1968; Fig. 24.3) but also an approximate determination of age. A fine classification and a percentile age distribution of lip pattern types was worked out by Rackowitz (1968).

Pathological changes in the lip redness (benigne tumores) are not stable features, but may be significant (in addition to the lip pattern) in identifying a person, e.g., in a comparison with a photograph (Labyt-Leroy et al. 1999). Lip relief types (Rackowitz 1968) (see Fig. 24.3) are: