Tablets
L5: Vijayan
Teaching Learning Outcome
• Outline the classification of tablets and the
substances used to prepare tablets.
• Explain the various method of preparation of
tablets with different tooling.
• describe the various Quality control of tablets
as per pharmacopeial specifications.
• Analyse and resolve the various defects that
arise during tablet compression.
Definition
• Tablet is defined as solid unit dosage form containing
medicaments with or without excipients in a
compressed form.
• According to the Pharmacopoeia, pharmaceutical
tablets are solid, flat or biconvex dishes, unit dosage
form, prepared by compressing a drugs or a mixture of
drugs, with or without diluents.
Advantages
• Greatest dose precision and the least content variability.
• Cost is lowest of all oral dosage form.
• Lighter and compact.
• Easiest and cheapest to package and strip.
• Easy to swallowing.
• Sustained release product is possible.
• Objectionable odour and bitter taste can be masked by various
techniques.
• Suitable for large scale production.
• Greatest chemical and microbial stability over all oral dosage form.
Disadvantages
• Difficult to swallow in case of children and unconscious
patients.
• Some drugs resist compression into dense compacts, owing to
amorphous nature, low density character.
• Drugs with poor wetting, slow dissolution properties, may be
difficult to formulate or manufacture as a tablet.
• Bitter testing drugs, drugs with an objectionable odor or drugs
that are sensitive to oxygen may require encapsulation or
coating. In such cases, cost would be high.
General properties of Tablet
• A tablet should have elegant product identity while free of
defects like chips, cracks, discoloration, and contamination.
• Should have sufficient strength to withstand mechanical
shock during its production packaging, shipping and
dispensing.
• Should have the chemical and physical stability to maintain
its physical attributes over time.
• The tablet must be able to release the medicinal agents in a
predictable and reproducible manner.
Types of Tablets
(A)Tablets ingested orally:
(C) Tablets administered by other route:
1. Compressed tablets
1. Implantation tablets
2. Film coated tablets
2. Vaginal tablets
3. Sugar coated tablets
4. Enteric coated tablets
5. Chewable tablets
6. Targeted tablets
(B) Tablets used in oral cavity: (D) Tablets used to prepare solution:
1. Buccal tablets 1. Effervescent tablets
2. Sublingual tablets 2. Dispensing tablets
3. lozenges 3. Hypodermic tablets
4. Dental cone
SUGAR COATED TABLETS
• The tablet that contains active ingredient(s) of unpleasant taste may be covered with
sugar to make it more palatable.
• This type of tablet should be administered in whole form, otherwise the patient will
experience the unpleasant taste of the active ingredient
FILM COATED TABLET
The tablet that is covered with a thin layer or film of
polymeric substance which protects the drug from
atmospheric conditions and mask the objectionable
taste and the odor of drug.
ENTERIC COATED TABLET
• Some drugs are destroyed by gastric juice/enzyme or causes
irritation to stomach
• These two factors can be overcome by coating the tablet with
cellulose acetate phthalate or other enteric coating polymers.
• This polymer is insoluble in gastric contents but readily
dissolves in intestinal contents.
• So, there is delay in the disintegration of dosage form until it
reaches the small intestine.
• Enteric coated tablet is comparatively expensive.
Enteric polymers e.g., shellac, CAP, HPMC phthalate, methacrylic
acid, polyvinyl acetate phthalate, co-polymers like Eudragit L100,
Eudragit S100.
CHEWABLE TABLETS
• Chewable tablets are to be chewed and thus mechanically disintegrated in the
mouth, so that NO DISINTEGRANT IS INCLUDED.
• Flavoring, sweetening and coloring agents are important.
• Sorbitol and mannitol are common examples of fillers in chewable tablets, (mannitol
has negative heat of solution which results in cooling effect and also has sweetening
action).
• Antacid and vitamin tablets are usually prepared as chewable tablets. It is given to
the children who have difficulty in swallowing and to the adults who dislike
swallowing.
TARGETED TABLETS
When we need to release the API at a specific site in the elementary tract,
targeted drug delivery is a preferred option.
Gastro retentive Tablet
This type of dosage form is to be opted when API
release is desired in stomach (Antacids, APIs used
against H. pylori infection) or site of absorption is
either stomach or upper part of small intestine.
SUBLINGUAL TABLETS
• The drug which is destroyed or inactivated within the gastrointestinal tract but can
be absorbed through the mucosal tissue of the oral cavity is usually given in this
formulation.
• Requirements of sublingual tablets are speed of absorption and a correspondingly
rapid physiological response. Sublingual tablet is placed under the tongue (rich in
blood supply)
• Absorption through oral cavity avoids first pass metabolism.
• Examples- Nitroglycerine tablets.
BUCCAL TABLETS
• Intended to be dissolved in buccal pouch.
• Tablets are designed not to disintegrate.
• It is placed near the opening of parotid duct to
provide the medium to dissolve the tablet.
• Buccal tablets are most often used when
replacement hormonal therapy is the goal.
DENTAL CONES
• These tables are designed to be loosely packed
in the empty socket remaining following a
tooth extraction.
• Main purpose behind the use of this tablet is
either to prevent multiplication of bacteria in
the socket by employing a slow releasing
antibacterial compound or to reduce bleeding
by an astringent or coagulant containing tablet
LOZENGE TABLETS
• The tablet that is intended to produce continuous effect on the mucous membrane
of the throat.
• There is no disintegrating agent.
• The quality of the binding agent is increased so as to produce slow
dissolution. Suitable sweetening (sugar), coloring and flavoring agents must be include
in this formulation. Gum is used to give strength and cohesiveness to the lozenge and
facilitating slow release of the active ingredient.
IMPLANTS
• A small tablet that is prepared for insertion under the skin by giving a small surgical cut
into the skin which is stitched after the insertion of the tablet.
• This tablet must be sterile.
• The drug used in this preparation is usually water insoluble and the tablet provides a
slow and continuous release of drug over prolonged period of time ranging from 3 to 6
months or even more.
• Contraceptive tablet is formulated as implant
EFFERVESCENT TABLETS
• The tablet that contains acid substances and carbonate or
hydrogen carbonate that react rapidly in the presence of
water to release carbon dioxide.
• Sodium bicarbonate, citric acid and tartaric acid are added
to the active ingredients to make the tablet effervescent.
This preparation makes the tablet palatable.
DISPENSING/ SOLUBLE TABLET
The tablet that dissolves completely in liquid to produce
solution of definite concentration.
HYPODERMIC TABLETS
They are intended to be added in WFI of sterile
water to form a clear solution which is to be
injected parenterally.
