Most of the mainstream DNA kit services use a cheek swab (buccal swab) sample for ancestry determination. To give the best chances at a successful swab, follow the below key highlights:
- Don’t eat or drink 30 min before providing your sample
- Rub the outside cheek(s) to produce more saliva
- The saliva tubs can be refrigerated up to 1 week in case you cannot collect a full swap sample at one time
- Leave in dentures or permanent teeth altering devices
Most companies will honor and resend any kits that do not produce results or error at the evaluation stage. Swap kits should be good for at least a year but if there are issues, companies have stood by their product and replaced it for the customer to try again. Once the saliva is collected, it should be mailed to a defined address for lab review. Depending on the specific brand, this part of the process takes a few weeks for the results to come in.
In addition to easing users from medical stress, swab kits have grown in popularity due to their quick process and affordability.
Cheek swab tests are increasing in popularity over a saliva tub because of the success rate. Kits with emphasis on saliva tubs have a higher fail rate because the customer did not collect a large enough sample in most cases. Having to produce that much saliva yields an unfair disadvantage to the elderly, those who are on medication with dry mouth as a side effect, or another condition.
DNA Kits 