Pharmaceutics-III
PPH (305)
Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sadat City
Third-year student ( 2023- 2024)
Tablet
Objectives:
By completing this lecture, the students will able to:
o Define the tablet dosage form.
o Acquire knowledge about the Advantages and
disadvantages of tablets.
o Identify the different types of tablets.
Tablets
I- Definition
Tablets are solid dosage forms usually prepared with the aid of suitable
pharmaceutical excipients.
They may vary in size, shape, weight, hardness, thickness, disintegration,
and dissolution characteristics and in other aspects, depending on their intended
use and method of manufacture.
Most tablets are used in the oral administration of drugs.
Many of these are prepared with colorants and coatings of various types.
Tablets
II- Methods of Preparation of Tablets.
Tablets are prepared primarily by compression, with a limited number prepared by molding.
• They are manufactured with tablet machines capable of exerting
great pressure in compacting the powdered or granulated
Compressed tablets
material. Their shape and dimensions are determined by the use
of various shaped punches and dies.
• They are prepared on a large scale by tablet machinery or on a
Molded tablets small scale by manually forcing dampened powder material into
(tablet triturates) a mold from which the formed tablet is then ejected and allowed
to dry.
Tablets machines
Tablet Compression Machine Tablet Mold
N.B: Some tablets are scored, or grooved, which allows them to be easily broken into two
or more parts. This enables the patient to swallow smaller portions as may be desired, or
when prescribed, it allows the tablet to be taken in reduced or divided dosage.
Some tablets that are not scored are not intended to be broken or cut by the patient since
they may have special coatings and/or drug release features that would be compromised
by altering the tablet's physical integrity.
Tablets
III- Advantages of Tablets
1) The oral route represents a convenient and safe way of drug administration.
2) Compared to liquid dosage forms tablets have general advantages in terms of the
chemical and physical stability of the dosage form.
3) The preparation procedure enables accurate dosing of the drug.
4) Tablets are convenient to handle and can be prepared in a versatile way.
5) Tablets can be mass produced with robust and quality-controlled production
procedures.
Tablets
IV- Disadvantages of Tablets
1) Not suitable for poorly water-soluble or poorly absorbable drugs.
2) Not suitable for local irritant drugs that affect gastrointestinal mucosa
1-Compressed tablets
2- Multiple Compressed Tablets
3- Sugar-Coated Tablets
V- Types of Tablet
4- Film-Coated Tablets
5- Gelatin-Coated Tablets
6- Enteric-Coated Tablets
7- Buccal and Sublingual Tablets
8- Chewable Tablets
9- Effervescent Tablets
10- Molded Tablets 10.1 Tablet Triturates
11- Vaginal Tablets
1- Compressed tablets
Prepared by a single compression or compaction process.
In addition to the medicinal agent or agents, compressed tablets usually
contain a number of pharmaceutical excipients, including the following:
Diluents (Fillers) – Binders (Adhesives) – Disintegrants – Glidants –
Lubricants and Anti-adherents – colorants – flavorants.
After compression, tablets may be coated with various materials.
2- Multiple Compressed Tablets
Prepared by subjecting the powder or granules to more than a single compression process.
The result may be a multiple-layer tablet or a tablet within a tablet, the inner tablet being
the core and the outer portion being the shell.
Each layer may contain a different medicinal agent, separated for reasons of chemical or
physical incompatibility, staged drug release, or simply the unique appearance of the
layered tablet.
Usually, each portion of powder has a different color to produce a distinctive-looking
tablet.
In preparation of tablets within tablets, special machines are required to place the
preformed core tablet precisely within the die for application of surrounding fill material.
2- Multiple Compressed Tablets
Multiple compressed tablets.
A: a core of one drug and a shell of another.
B: a layered tablet of two drugs.
3- Sugar-Coated Tablets
Compressed tablets may be coated with a coloured or uncoloured sugar layer.
The coating is water soluble and quickly dissolves after swallowing.
Advantages of the sugar coat:
1. It protects the enclosed drug from the environment and provides a barrier to
unpleasant tastes or odour.
2. It enhances the appearance of the compressed tablet
3. It permits imprinting of identifying manufacturer's information.
3- Sugar-Coated Tablets
Disadvantages of the sugar-coated tablets:
1. The time and expertise required in the coating process.
2. The increase in size, weight, and shipping costs.
Sugar coating may add 50% to the weight of the uncoated tablet.
4- Film-Coated Tablets
Film-coated tablets are compressed tablets coated with a thin layer of a
polymer capable of forming a skin-like film.
The film is usually coloured.
The Film-coating has the advantage over sugar coatings in that:
It is more durable, less bulky, and less time-consuming to apply.
By its composition, the film-coating is designed to rupture and expose the
core tablet at the desired location in the gastrointestinal tract.
5- Gelatin-Coated Tablets
Gelcap is a capsule-shaped (Caplet)
gelatin coated compressed tablet
Gelcap allows the coated product to be
about one-third smaller than a capsule
filled with an equivalent amount of
powder.
The gelatin coating facilitates
swallowing.
6- Enteric-Coated Tablets
Enteric-coated tablets have delayed- release features.
They are designed to pass unchanged through the stomach to the
intestines, where the tablets disintegrate and allow drug dissolution and
absorption and/or effect.
Enteric coatings are employed when the drug substance is destroyed by
gastric acid or it is particularly irritating to the gastric mucosa or when
bypass of the stomach substantially enhances drug absorption.
7- Buccal and Sublingual Tablets
Buccal and sublingual tablets are flat, oval tablets intended to be dissolved in
the buccal pouch (buccal tablets) or beneath the tongue (sublingual tablets) for
absorption through the oral mucosa.
They enable oral absorption of drugs that are destroyed by the gastric juice
and/or are poorly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract.
Buccal tablets are designed to erode (dissolve) slowly, whereas those for
sublingual use (such as nitroglycerin [NTG]) dissolve promptly and provide
rapid drug effects
7- Buccal and Sublingual Tablets
Buccal Mucoadhesive tablet Sublingual tablet
8- Chewable Tablets
Chewable tablets have a smooth, rapid mechanical disintegration when
chewed in the mouth; have a creamy base, usually of specially flavored and
colored mannitol.
Chewable tablets are especially useful for administration of large tablets to
children and adults who have difficulty swallowing solid dosage forms.
9- Effervescent Tablets
Effervescent tablets are prepared by compressing granular effervescent salts
that release gas when in contact with water.
These tablets generally contain medicinal substances that dissolve rapidly
when added to water.
The “bubble action” can assist in breaking up the tablets and enhancing the
dissolution of the active drug.
10- Molded Tablets
Certain tablets may be prepared by molding rather than by compression. e.g.
tablet triturates
The resultant tablets are very soft and soluble and are designed for rapid
dissolution.
10.1 Tablet Triturates
Tablet triturates are small, usually cylindrical, molded, or compressed
tablets containing small amounts of usually potent drugs.
Today, only a few tablet triturate products are available commercially, with
most of these produced by tablet compression.
Since tablet triturates must be readily and completely soluble in water, only
a minimal amount of pressure is applied during their manufacture.
A combination of sucrose and lactose is usually the diluent. The few tablet
triturates that remain are used sublingually, such as NTG tablets.
11- Vaginal Tablets
Vaginal tablets, also called vaginal inserts, are
uncoated, bullet-shaped, or ovoid tablets inserted into
the vagina for local effects.
They are prepared by compression and shaped to fit
on plastic inserter devices that accompany the
product.
They contain antibacterial for the treatment of
nonspecific vaginitis or antifungals for the treatment
of candidiasis caused by Candida albicans and related
species.
According to the drug release characteristics or rate,
tablets can be classified into:
I- Immediate Release II- Modified Release III- Rapidly Disintegrating
Tablets (IR Tablets) Tablets (MR Tablets) (RD Tablets)
I- Immediate Release Tablets (IR Tablets)
Immediate Release Tablets (IR Tablets) are designed to disintegrate
and release their medication with no special rate-controlling features,
such as special coatings and other techniques.
II- Modified Release Tablets (MR Tablets)
Modified Release Tablets (MR Tablets) or Controlled Release Tablets
(CR Tablets) include:
1. Sustained/Extended Release (SR/ XR Tablets)
2. Delayed Release (Enteric Coated Tablets)
III- Rapidly Disintegrating (RD Tablets)
Rapidly Disintegrating or Dissolving Tablets (RD Tablets), Rapid-
release Tablets or Oro-Dispersible Tablets (ODT) are characterized by
disintegrating or dissolving in the mouth within 1 minute, some within 10
seconds.
Tablets of this type are designed for children and the elderly or for any
patient who has difficulty in swallowing tablets.
They liquefy on the tongue, and the patient swallows the liquid.
