J Vijaya Ratna

Buccal delivery of the desired drug using mucoadhesive polymers has been the subject of interest since the early 1980s. Advantages associated with buccal drug delivery have rendered this route of administration useful for a variety of drugs. This review highlights the use of mucoadhesive polymers in buccal drug delivery the mucosa of the oral cavity presents a formidable barrier to drug penetration and one method of optimizing drug delivery is by the use of adhesive dosage forms. Mucosal adhesive materials are hydrophilic macromolecules containing numerous hydrogen-bonds –forming groups. They have been called “wet” adhesives in that they require moisture to become adhesive and this may be supplied by the saliva: the latter may also acts as the dissolution medium. Various buccal-adhesive formulations have been investigated with a view to delivering drugs locally or systematically. We focus on the new generation of mucoadhesive polymers such as thiolated polymers, followed by the recent mucoadhesive formulations for buccal drug delivery.