There are two types of oral drug testing: on-site and laboratory. On-site tests provide instant results and are commonly used for workplace and spot testing, while laboratory tests are preferred for pre-employment screenings and can detect a wider variety of drugs. Oral drug tests are preferred over urine tests because they are more difficult to manipulate and provide similar levels of accuracy.
The two basic types of oral drug testing are site testing and laboratory testing. Onsite tests provide instant results in less than 10 minutes, and lab tests are analyzed in an offsite testing facility and can take anywhere from several days to a week or more to process. Both types of oral drug tests require taking a saliva sample from the person being tested. Drug testing is typically performed by two broad categories of people: employers who need to verify the sobriety of their employees, and parents concerned about their children’s well-being.
On-site oral drug testing allows the tester to receive immediate results using a saliva sample from the person being tested. This type of oral exam is ideal for situations that require instant reading. They are the most common types of drug screening used for workplace randomized drug testing, as well as spot testing by parents to check for their child’s sobriety. They are also used by employers immediately after a workplace accident has occurred to better assess whether substance use was a contributing factor to the accident. On-site drug tests can also be used to detect recent alcohol use.
Oral laboratory-analyzed drug tests are preferred for situations that require verification of potential drug use over a longer period of time. The saliva sample is collected in the same way as a spot test, but is then sent to an testing facility for processing. Results typically take at least a week to determine, but are capable of screening for a wider variety of drugs. These types of drug tests are most commonly used for pre-employment screenings, allowing the employer to verify past drug abuse and current use.
Oral drug tests can detect past and present use of a variety of substances, including marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, and ecstasy. They are typically classified as a five-panel drug test or a 10-panel drug test, indicating the number of substances for which the test will be selected. The length of time for which the test can detect use varies by substance. Most of the substances, however, have been tested for use within the past two to three days.
Oral drug tests are preferred over a urine drug test because they make it much more difficult to manipulate the results in order to create a false negative reading. They’re not as extensive as a hair drug test, but they provide enough detail to meet the needs of most testers at a significantly lower price. They are also much simpler to administer than drug tests and provide very similar levels of accuracy in results.
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