Saliva sample testing is a technique used to collect samples of a person's saliva, or spit, to check for or monitor certain drugs, hormones (chemical messengers from one cell or group of cells to another), antibodies

The saliva test for HIV provides results in about 20 minutes while the person waits at the testing facility.

Smoking, eating, drinking, and brushing the teeth can affect test results, as can the way in which the person puts saliva on the slide.

the saliva sample test works by using a plastic stick with a pad on the end to swab or rub against the patient's gums to gather saliva. Other tests work by simply inserting a foam pad on a stick into the person's mouth

Saliva sampling is also a more accurate way of measuring a woman's hormone levels, pre-, peri-, and post-meno-pause, for fertility studies and hormone replacement therapy.