# HIV test ... orally?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiv-test-orally/7107>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 12, 2000, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiv-test-orally/7107 "2000-02-12T22:37:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@sly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sly)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2000, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiv-test-orally/7107/1 "2000-02-12T22:37:00Z")

</div>

I be curious. I had a physical last week as required for my life insurance policy and as part of the physical, I had to have an HIV test. As I understand it, HIV cannot be transmitted via saliva, however, the test was conducted orally. I held a cotton swab in my mouth for a few minutes, placed it in a plastic container, and off it went to the lab. Does the virus live in saliva? If so, how can it _not_ be transmitted orally?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2000, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiv-test-orally/7107/2 "2000-02-12T22:56:00Z")

</div>

Sly - HIV tests test for antibodies to proteins which make up the virus. Therefore you do not need to be secreting actual virus particles to have the test come up +.

BUT… HIV virus has been detected in infected peoples’ saliva. It can be spread through saliva, hence the safe sex recommendation for “dental dams” during oral sex. But ordinary swapping spit seems to be a very ineffective method of transmitting the infection.

* * *

Sue from El Paso  
Siamese Attack Puppet - Texas

Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2000, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiv-test-orally/7107/3 "2000-02-13T02:59:00Z")

</div>

“dental dams” ? What are those things? Where do you get them? They don’t sound very sexy.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2000, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiv-test-orally/7107/4 "2000-02-13T09:19:00Z")

</div>

It’s a latex sheet with little holes to fit your teeth through:

\<BLOCKQUOTE\>\<font size=“1” face=“Verdana, Arial”\>code:\</font\>\<HR\>\<pre\>  
OO  
O O  
O O  
O O  
O O  
O O  
O O  
OO

```auto

It helps minimize the chances of you becoming infected with a bloodborne virus (HIV, Hep B or C) by a dentist, or your dentist becoming infected by you.

Sexy it is not.

- Sue
```