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Just under the surface, a long-protracted war is ongoing upstanding citizens and companies who want to squeeze every last bit of productivity out of you. A small pleasure for you is seen as a threat to your company’s bottom line, and they’ll do everything they can to make sure they can catch you in the act. Plenty of companies will still require mandatory drug testing for their employees, and as drug users find new and effective ways to get around them, employers will do their darndest to make sure they can catch you off-guard.
In the business world, time has become an extremely valuable resource. Companies want immediate results, and this philosophy carries over to drug tests. In terms of sheer speed and convenience, mouth swab tests take the top spot. If you’ve got a company that likes to get the jump on their employees, or you happen to run into law enforcement at a bad time, your casual drug-use could land you in hot water.
Luckily there are some simple methods to get around them. Yes, with a little bit of preparation and planning, you can turn this test into a minor inconvenience.
What Is a Mouth Swab Drug Test?
So what should you expect with a mouth swab test? Well, it involves taking a sample of your saliva. The sample is analyzed, either via the swab itself or through some separate implement like a container. You’ll see a positive or negative result for whichever drug is being tested. It’s pretty straightforward.
Urine tests are designed to test for THC-COOH, a byproduct of THC which is expelled when you pee. Saliva tests are looking for active THC lingering in the mouth. See, when you smoke something or take an edible, THC ends up coating your mouth. This gets picked up by the swab, and will show up as a positive result.
So why are mouth swab tests popular? One factor’s the price. Testing kits are pretty cheap. You can buy one yourself for $10. Next is speed. You take a swab, do the analysis, and it’s done. There’s no need for a scientist or a laboratory, it all happens in one go. Third, there’s the convenience. You don’t need a special room set up, you don’t need to pull anyone’s pants down. You do the swab, and you’re all done.
Companies love how easy it is to give a mouth swab test. I mean, how difficult is it to get a saliva sample. In fact, we’d recommend having a personal drug testing kit handy just so you know if you need to get clean or not. Training someone to administer a mouth swab test is extremely easy, and so they can cut costs by not needing to pay for special services or a whole lab analysis.
Mouth swab tests are designed to get the jump on chronic smokers. If you’re smoking daily, a random mouth swab test can catch you by surprise. You don’t need special training to administer it. From an economical standpoint, a mouth swab test will let you check as many people as possible for the lowest price.
Detection Time: A Window of Opportunity
But a mouth swab test isn’t perfect. In fact, it’s got quite the fatal flaw. You see, what it is able to do in terms of speed and convenience, it sacrifices in accuracy. That’s right, mouth swab tests have a much smaller detection window than other methods. Detection windows vary depending on the substance, but for marijuana, we’re talking 24 to 72 hours at most. This makes the mouth swab test a little more unreliable in terms of getting positive results.
That being said, if you’re a chronic user, the concentration of THC in your mouth may be higher. You may have to expand the detection window up to about 7-days if you smoke daily.
Regardless, it’s a much tighter window than other methods, so why use it? For one, it makes for a good deterrent. Someone who isn’t really into smoking up may be discouraged altogether. A chronic user may tone down their usage when they feel like a test is coming up. And if your local police use mouth swab testing, you may think twice about using while driving.
Mouth swab tests really take the cake when it comes to sheer cost and convenience. Companies or law enforcement may find that the trade-off in accuracy is worth it if they can overwhelm with sheer numbers. But if you’re equipped with the right knowledge, it may not be so difficult to get around this particular test.
What Isn’t Going to Work?
Let’s say your employer wants to administer a saliva test. Let’s also assume that you’ve smoked weed within the last 72 hours. If you’re looking for a cheap and easy fix, some places online might offer you some well-meant but probably bad advice.
It’s been suggested that eating fatty food within an hour of your saliva test will help. The reasoning is that THC is fat-soluble, so the fatty food may bond with the THC molecules and bring them into the digestive tract. It sounds like a sensible idea, but even they’ll be hesitant to tell you it’s foolproof. While THC is a fat-soluble molecule, it won’t bond with fat in your mouth so quickly and easily. It’s not a good bet.
Another suggestion is to wash out your mouth prior to the test with something like hydrogen peroxide or mouthwash. This is probably not going to help either, and if you’re not careful you can get caught cheating the results, which would put you into a bigger predicament. We wouldn’t advise you go down that route.
A last ditch plan may be to fix the test by having the saliva sample be collected from somewhere other than the gum line, or underneath the tongue. Test takers will usually be trained to take samples from there as THC more easily builds up in those areas. This method requires you to lie to the tester’s face and will need you to find a way to do the swabbing yourself. Honestly, if this is the only method you’ve got at your disposal, chances are things aren’t going to go well for you.
Passing a Mouth Swab Test
Okay, so what does work? What can you do? Whether you’ve got advance notice or you found out on the day itself, there are several methods you can take to ensure that your test comes out negative.
Toxin Rid Rescue Mouthwash
A real chronic user? Took a hit within the detection window? There are cases wherein the normal waiting game won’t be enough to guarantee you victory. In those cases, you can use something like Toxin Rid mouthwash. It’ll basically guarantee that you come out clean.
Toxin Rid is the same company behind the Toxin Rid Detox Pills. That stuff is great, so it stands to reason that any product made by the same company should be just as reliable.
It’s pretty simple to use. You put a third of the liquid into your mouth, hold for three minutes, and spit it out. You do that two more times and then rinse. Then, chew a couple of breath mints of your choice. Use it before your test and you should be fine.
Saliva Detox Gum
While the specialist mouthwash works on the same day, you may not have the ten minutes it’ll take to fully clean out your mouth. If you’re short on time, it may be handy to invest in a saliva detox gum. Pop one into your mouth and chew it. It’ll only take a couple of seconds, and you should be clean for about ten minutes. Time it right, and you should be able to pass.
Try to get your hands on Oral Clear Saliva Neutralizing Gum. It’s a pretty simple product, you just pop one in and chew for 30 seconds, and then swallow it. That last part sounds weird but don’t worry, you’ll be fine. It isn’t even technically gum, it’s a concentrated detoxifying liquid, and it’ll get you past any pesky mouth swab you’ll come across.
These gums will cost you a lot more than your garden variety convenience store candy. But when your job is on the line, it may be worth it to put in the extra cash to get through an unexpected saliva test.
Keep Your Mouth Clean
Brush your teeth a lot and use some mouthwash! If you aren’t a chronic user, as long as you’re keeping everything spic and span, you should be fine. Keeping your mouth clean will help naturally flush out the THC that’s present in your mouth, so when the test does come, there’s less of a chance that you’ll be caught red-handed.
It’s also good practice to drink plenty of water. Apart from the obvious benefit of washing your mouth, keeping hydrated helps with saliva production. The more saliva in your mouth, the more your mouth self-cleans and creates a cleaner environment. Less metabolites in your mouth, the better your chances when the swab comes in.
If you’re a chronic user, don’t just rely on normal mouth washing. Daily use can create a higher concentration of THC in your mouth that a test can detect outside the three day window. Given that, it may be useful to consider our next option.
Lay Off the Stuff
Mouth swab tests are most effective against daily users. If you’re the type of person to have a puff maybe once a week, you can get around saliva tests with very little worry. But if you’re aware of an upcoming saliva test, it may be best to consider laying off the weed for a bit.
I know, I know, but hear me out. If you can take a break from smoking until the drug test rolls around, it helps your chances immensely. Remember how the mouth swab’s biggest weakness is its detection window? Use that to your advantage. If you’ve been brushing your teeth and you’ve been clean for at least a week, you’re probably in the clear.
Make Some Friends
These days, there’s a high chance there are others like you at your place of employment. These days, basically everyone has a little hit from time to time. Given that, there are probably more than a few people in your workplace that smoke regularly. Find them and get a feel for when these tests are administered. Know your rights, find out what works. If you have the chance, join a union. You’ll probably have a better chance of maneuvering these tests with people you can count on.
Conclusion
As far as drug tests go, mouth swabs are a pretty quick pass. Compared to other more stringent tests such as hair follicle or urine tests, they’re pretty straightforward to deal with if you know what you’re getting into. As we’ve noted, there are plenty of normal methods and a variety of nice products you can use to your advantage. Following our tips should ensure that you’ll be smiling the moment that swab leaves your gums.
Preparation and patience are key to beating this test. If you know what you’re up against, beating a mouth swab test can be pretty simple. Just remember that time is your friend, so you’ve got to make the most of it. While a mouth swab test isn’t nearly as formidable as other methods, you can still get caught if you aren’t being careful. Be smart, and be vigilant.
