Sexual Health STDs Wet Mounts and Vaginal Smears in Women's Health By Elizabeth Boskey, PhD facebook twitter linkedin Elizabeth Boskey, PhD, MPH, CHES, is a social worker, adjunct lecturer, and expert writer in the field of sexually transmitted diseases. Learn about our editorial process Elizabeth Boskey, PhD Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Matthew Wosnitzer, MD on November 01, 2020 twitter linkedin Matthew Wosnitzer, MD, is board-certified in urology. He is an attending physician at Yale New Haven Health System, Northeast Medical Group and teaches at the Frank Netter School of Medicine. Learn about our Medical Review Board Matthew Wosnitzer, MD on November 01, 2020 Print In a women's health exam, a wet mount is a slide made from a vaginal swab. It is also known as a vaginal smear. The purpose of a wet mount is to determine the cause of vaginitis. Wet mounts may also be a standard part of an annual gynecology exam. Science Photo Library / Getty Images To prepare a wet mount, your doctor will swab your vagina—usually during a pelvic exam—and roll the swab onto a slide. Some doctors may also allow you to do the swab yourself. Then your doctor can look at the wet mount under her office microscope to diagnose visible conditions such as bacterial vaginosis, yeast infections, and trichomoniasis. Wet mounts are not used to diagnose most common STDs such as chlamydia and gonorrhea. However, these vaginal smears can give your doctor important insights about your reproductive health. Clarifying the Difference Between Wet Mounts and Pap Smears Wet mounts and Pap smears may both start with a swab, but they're very different types of tests. Wet mounts are read in the office setting by the physician. They are used to detect 3-4 specific types of infections, such as the ones mentioned above. Reading wet mounts requires training, but it is still relatively easy to perform. Pap smears, on the other hand, aren't used to detect STDs. Instead, they're used to detect pre-cancerous cervical changes that are associated with HPV. They are a test for cancer and pre-cancerous conditions. In addition, although the cervical swabs are taken in the doctor's office, they are read by specially trained pathologists (or computers.) The cellular changes are much more subtle than the changes that doctors look for on a wet mount. The other important difference between Pap smears and wet mounts is that Pap smears are swabs of the cervix. Wet mounts are swabs of the vagina. They're not only used to diagnose different types of conditions, but they also contain samples of cells from different places. One thing that both wet mounts and Pap smears have in common, however, is that they're typically done alongside other STD tests. Neither test stands on its own for managing a woman's sexual and reproductive health. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Sign up for our Health Tip of the Day newsletter, and receive daily tips that will help you live your healthiest life. Sign Up You're in! Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. What are your concerns? Other Inaccurate Hard to Understand Submit Article Sources Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Paladine HL, Desai UA. Vaginitis: Diagnosis and Treatment. Am Fam Physician. 2018;97(5):321-329. Frobenius W, Bogdan C. Diagnostic Value of Vaginal Discharge, Wet Mount and Vaginal pH - An Update on the Basics of Gynecologic Infectiology. Geburtshilfe Frauenheilkd. 2015;75(4):355–366. doi:10.1055/s-0035-1545909 Cervical Cancer Screening. American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. September 2017 Additional Reading Mylonas I, Bergauer F. Diagnosis of Vaginal Discharge by Wet Mount Microscopy: a Simple and Underrated Method. Obstet Gynecol Surv. 2011 Jun;66(6):359-68. Smith RA, Manassaram-Baptiste D, Brooks D, Doroshenk M, Fedewa S, Saslow D, Brawley OW, Wender R. Cancer Screening in the United States, 2015: a Review of Current American Cancer Society Guidelines and Current Issues in Cancer Screening. CA Cancer J Clin. 2015 Jan-Feb;65(1):30-54.