Adermatoglyphia and alterations of fingerprints can have serious medicolegal implications. In such a scenario, certification of the condition by the treating physician appears to be the way out to save the patient from any inconvenience. At the same time, the medical practitioners and forensic experts need to be cautious especially in the times when lawbreakers are known to make every effort to alter their fingerprints in an endeavor to conceal their identity. Whether the loss of fingerprints is temporary or permanent in these medical conditions is also important and something to closely watch for.
In situations of adermatoglyphia, occupational disappearance of fingerprints (in case of bricklayers and people whose job involves working with calcium oxide or lime) and intentionally alterations of fingerprints by any means such as burning of fingertips and deeper cuts, surgical means etc. (Harmon 2009), the forensic practitioners need to be extra vigilant and watch whether these alterations have gone deep under the skin and damaged the fingerprint ridges or is it a temporary damage where the fingerprints/ridges will readily emerge on the finger balls after few days of the momentary damage. The forensic scientists should also rely upon alternative methods for identification like face recognition, iris or retinal scans can be utilized for identification in cases where fingerprint identification is difficult/ questioned. In the present world, where fingerprints as a biometric technology has been in use in a variety of government and private organizations, aviation and immigration, office access, military, operation of bank accounts, computers and mobile phone access and so on; the loss of fingerprints may have serious implications.