Formulation and Evaluation of Mouth Dissolving Tablets

Oral delivery is currently the gold standard in the pharmaceutical industry where it is regarded as the safest, most convenient and most economical method of drug delivery having the highest patient compliance. This tablet format is designed to allow administration of an oral solid dose form in the absence of water or fluid intake. Such tablets readily dissolve or disintegrate in the saliva generally within <60 seconds. Fast or mouth dissolving tablets have been formulated for pediatric, geriatric, and bedridden patients and for active patients who are busy and traveling and may not have access to water. Often times people experience inconvenience in swallowing conventional dosage forms such as tablet when water is not available, in the case of the motion sickness (kinetosis) and sudden episodes of coughing during the common cold, allergic condition and bronchitis. Their growing importance was underlined recently when European pharmacopoeia adopted the term "Orodispersible tablet" as a tablet that to be placed in the mouth where it disperses rapidly before swallowing. According to European pharmacopoeia, the ODT should disperse/disintegrate in less than three minutes.