Different Types Of Oral Dosage Forms

Many different medications are taken orally (by mouth). In most cases, the ingredients in oral medication don't enter the bloodstream until they reach the stomach or bowel. Sometimes the drug is absorbed by the lining of the mouth, like is the case with lozenges. Some active ingredients – for example, certain laxatives or contrast agents – aren't meant to enter the bloodstream in large quantities at all.

Oral administration is a route of administration where a substance is taken through the mouth. Per os abbreviated to P.O. is sometimes used as a direction for medication to be taken orally. Many medications are taken orally because they are intended to have a systemic effect, reaching different parts of the body via the bloodstream, for example.

Oral dosage form

Per os (P.O.) is an adverbial phrase meaning literally from Latin "through the mouth" or "by mouth". The expression is used in medicine to describe a treatment that is taken orally (but not used in the mouth such as, for example, caries prophylaxis). The abbreviation P.O. is often used on medical prescriptions.

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Oral Form Of Drugs

They come as solid tablets, capsules, chewable tablets or lozenges to be swallowed whole or sucked on, or as drinkable liquids such as drops, syrups or solutions.

Solid Dosage Form

Tablet

One or more active ingredients are combined with so-called excipients (carrier substances that help hold the tablet together) and then pressed into tablet form.

1. Coated tablets (sugar-coated or film-coated tablets): Tablets can be covered with a layer to protect them against external influences, such as dampness or bacteria. Coated tablets are smooth, colored, and often shiny. They go down easier when you swallow and are tasteless. Depending on what the coating is made of and how thick it is, people differentiate between sugar-coated and film-coated tablets. Sugar-coated tablets are usually round or oval in shape; film-coated tablets only have a thin coating. If tablets contain active ingredients that have to be protected from the acid in the stomach, they are coated with a protective layer that is resistant to gastric acid (gastro-resistant). Then the active ingredients are not released until they reach the small intestine. Coated tablets should not be crushed or chewed because then they will no longer be protected by the coating.

2. Tablets without coating: These tablets are made of powder or granulate pressed tightly together. If they're not given a coating, they usually have a dull surface. It is important to take tablets with water to avoid them getting stuck in your food pipe, and so that there is enough liquid in your stomach to allow the tablet to dissolve.

3. Fizzy tablets: Fizzy (effervescent) tablets are dissolved in a glass of water for drinking. faster effect than tablets because the medication has already dissolved by the time it arrives in the stomach.

4. Chewable tablets and lozenges: These contain active ingredients that are intended to have an effect in the throat or that can be absorbed through the lining of the mouth. These tablets are either chewed or sucked on.

5. Sublingual/Buccal tablets: These soluble tablets are placed into a cheek pouch or under the tongue to let them slowly dissolve. The active ingredient is absorbed into the bloodstream directly through the lining of the mouth and spread through the rest of the body.

6. Time-release tablets and capsules: Time-release (sustained-release) tablets and capsules are designed to release their active ingredients slowly. A time-release tablet may contain an entire day’s worth of the active ingredient, and then release it evenly over the course of the day. This has the advantage that only one tablet is needed per day, and not several.

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Capsules And Chewable Capsules

Capsules have a shell – usually made of gelatin – containing the medication in the form of a powder, granulate or liquid. The shell dissolves in the stomach or bowel and then releases the active ingredient. They are easy to swallow and tasteless. There are also chewable capsules that you bite into so that the active ingredient can be absorbed through the lining of the mouth.

Powders And Granules

Some drugs are available in powder or granulate form. They are usually dissolved in water to be swallowed.

Liquid Dosage Form

In liquid medications, one or more active ingredients are usually dissolved or suspended in water. The liquid itself may also be the active ingredient. Nowadays these medications usually come with a measuring cup to help you get the dose right.

Drops

In drops either the liquid itself is the active ingredient of the medicine, or the active ingredient has been dissolved in liquid, usually in water or a mixture of water and alcohol. Dosages are given in numbers of drops.

Syrup

Concentrated sugar solutions that contain medication are called syrups. Drug particle of pharmaceutical solution that completely dissolves into the solvent. Here, the particles of the drug are equally distributed in equal volumes throughout the solution.

Suspensions

Suspensions are often used as a dosage form when the drug is insoluble in water and when use of solubilizing agents is not possible. They are liquid dosage forms containing finely divided insoluble materials (the suspensoid) distributed somewhat uniformly throughout the suspending medium (suspending vehicle) in which the drug exhibits a minimum degree of solubility. They are fat or oil in water with the aid of an emulsifying agent so that they do not coalesce as the interfacial tension between the oil and water is lowered. They require shaking before use.

Magmas

Magmas are built suspension of poorly soluble substances in water. They are also called milk because of their white colour. The suspended particles of magma are large and seperate on long standing. Also requires shaking before use.

Solution

Oral solutions are clear Liquid preparations for oral use containing one or more active ingredients dissolved in a suitable vehicle. It is a thermodynamically stable, one-phase system composed of 2 or more components, one of which is completely dissolved in the other. Pharmaceutical solutions are composed of a solid, liquid, or gas dissolved in a liquid solvent. There are two categories of solution. They are oral solutions and solutions for injection.

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Elixir

An elixir is a sweet liquid used for medical purposes, to be taken orally and intended to cure one's illness. When used as a pharmaceutical preparation, an elixir contains at least one active ingredient designed to be taken orally.

Semi Solid Dosage Form

Semisolid dosage forms are neither solid nor liquid, however, they are a combination or mixture of both, and they are used for both local and systemic.

Gels

They are colloidal aqueous suspension of hydrated inorganic substances. They are packed in a small single dose sachet that is cut open to expose a small part of the sachet. From here, the drug sucks.

Gas Dosage Form

In gaseous dosage forms, the active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) are given in the form of gas, and are packed in a special container which gets released upon applying pressure.

Inhalers

The inhalation route of administration involves the administration of a drug through the respiratory system with an appropriate combination of excipients in the form of gas, fine powder, and aerosols, usually by oral or nasal inhalation.