Salivettes (Saliva Collection Devices)

General information on saliva collection and handling of Salivette® 1) Saliva collection should be performed no earlier than 30 minutes after a meal or oral intake of drugs in order to ensure that there is no contamination of saliva with interfering substances. This recommendation is particularly relevant to outpatients. 2) The absorbent material (the cotton swab) is removed from the suspended insert. Gently chewing the swab for approx. 2 minutes usually produces a sufficient quantity of saliva. In case of doubt, the patient should keep the cotton swab in his/her mouth until he/she feels he/she can no longer prevent himself/herself from swallowing the saliva produced. 3) Afterwards, the cotton swab is replaced in the suspended insert and the Salivette® is firmly closed using the stopper. 4) The Salivette® can now be stored as a closed system, if necessary. The temperature and duration of storage depend on the stability of the substance intended for analysis. 5) If the patient carries out the collection of saliva at home, the used Salivette® can be returned to the relevant doctor by mail. Maximum protection of Salivettes during transportation and additional precaution against the risk of contamination from potentially infectious specimen material is ensured by the use shipping boxes and appropriate security envelopes (available under order code: B-SLEEPCHECK). 6) Recovery of saliva from the cotton swab is carried out by centrifugation of the Salivette® at 1000 x g for 2 minutes. Higher g-forces only result in a slightly higher yield of saliva. The centrifugation procedure forces any mucous material or solid substances into the conical base of the centrifuge vessel. The stopper, cotton swab and suspended insert can be disposed as one unit. The clear saliva supernatant is now ready for analysis.