Oral Swabbing
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Pacific Clinical Labs
COVID Testing Site located in Santa Monica, CA
If you need a COVID-19 test, but you’re remiss to get a nasal swab, don’t panic. Instead, ask Pacific Clinical Labs, a physician-run testing center located in Santa Monica, California, about oral swabbing. Oral swabbing requires that the team take a swab from the back of your throat, rather than through your nasal passages. Like the nasal swab, you receive your results from the practice’s in-house lab within 6-12 hours after testing. Oral swabbing is reliable and accurate. To schedule yours, call or reach out online today.
Oral Swabbing Q & A
What is oral swabbing?
In the context of COVID-19 testing, oral swabbing is one way of collecting a swab sample for a PCR test. A PCR, or polymerase chain reaction, test at Pacific Clinical Labs is 99% sensitive and 100% specific.
Unlike nasal swabs, which require Pacific Clinical Labs to go deep into the cavity between your nose and mouth, oral swabbing only requires that the practice swab the inside of your mouth.
After your Pacific Clinical Labs team swabs you, you’ll receive a positive or negative result within 6-12 hours.
How does oral swabbing work?
To perform oral swabbing, your team asks you first to cough into your mask. In theory, by coughing you send some of the virus hiding in your lungs out into your mouth, where it gets caught in your saliva.
After you cough, your team runs a swab along the back of your throat or your oropharynx, which is located at the back of your mouth behind the oral cavity. After collecting the sample, they seal it in a sterile container and take it straight to the in-house lab.
At the lab, the practice tests your oral swab like they would a nasal swab, by extracting any viral RNA and converting it into DNA that they can test.
Is oral swabbing reliable?
When performed correctly, oral swabbing is just as reliable and accurate as nasal swabbing. It also offers numerous advantages, including the fact that it’s less invasive and more comfortable.
It’s also safer for the test administrator. This is because nasal swabs often cause patients to cough or sneeze, putting the administrator at risk for exposure to COVID-19 via droplets. Oral swabbing is less likely to produce such reactions.
Oral swabbing at Pacific Clinical Labs is especially reliable because of the practice’s in-house lab. This lab eliminates several risks to an accurate test result, including degradation of the sample and mishandling of the sample by a middleman.
If you’ve been exposed to someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19, or you’re having symptoms of COVID-19, get answers today with oral swabbing at Pacific Clinical Labs. To schedule your test, call the practice or reach out via the online booking tool.
