What is buccal or sublingual?

Author: Bryon Smith  |  Last update: Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Sublingual administration involves placing a drug under the tongue and buccal administration involves placing a drug between the gums and cheek. The sublingual and buccal routes are considered promising alternatives to the traditional oral route for drug delivery.

What is an example of a buccal drug?

A wide variety of these drugs are available on the market to be prescribed in hospitals and other healthcare settings, including common examples like Corlan, Fentora, and Buccastem. The most common route for drug transport through the buccal mucosa is the paracellular pathway.

Do you swallow buccal medication?

Buccal and sublingual medications are a type of oral medication, but you don't swallow them. Instead, place them in a specific area in your mouth to be absorbed.

Do you swallow sublingual liquid?

Dissolve the tablet under your tongue. The sublingual tablet should not be chewed or swallowed, since it works much faster when absorbed through the lining of the mouth.

What happens if you accidentally swallow a sublingual pill?

Because Suboxone is designed to work when dissolved under the tongue, swallowing it means most of it will not get absorbed. You will therefore not experience the effects of the medications, or at least not the extent to which you would were you to properly ingest it under the tongue.

Buccal Medication Administration Route Nursing Skill

What does buccal use mean?

Buccal Medicines: Giving Buccal Medicines. A buccal medicine is a medicine given between the gums and the inner lining of the mouth cheek. This area is called the buccal pouch. Medicine is usually given in the buccal area when it is needed to take effect quickly or when the child is not conscious.

What happens if you swallow buccal?

If you swallow or suck buccal tablets they will not work. If you have more than 1 ulcer, move the tablet around your mouth so the medicine can dissolve on each ulcer. Do not use more than 1 tablet at a time and do not use more than 4 in a day.

Which is faster sublingual or buccal?

Drug absorption is relatively faster across the sublingual mucosa compared to the buccal mucosa due to the thinner epithelium. In addition to rapid absorption, the portion of drug that is absorbed through the blood vessels directly enters the systemic circulation and bypasses hepatic first-pass metabolic processes.

What are the disadvantages of the buccal route?

These buccal tablets suffer from several disadvantages that include low tolerability, as they may have an unacceptable mouthfeel or taste, possible irritation of the buccal mucosa, and limited distribution of drugs within saliva for local therapy [51].

What is the most commonly administered sublingual medication?

Sublingual administration, in which a tablet or troche is allowed to dissolve completely in the oral cavity, takes advantage of the permeability of the oral epithelium and is the preferred route for a few potent lipophilic drugs, such as nitroglycerin and oxytocin, and even the commonly used oral sedative triazolam.

Is buccal the same as oral?

The oral cavity, or more commonly known as the mouth or buccal cavity, serves as the first portion of the digestive system. It consists of several different anatomically different aspects that work together effectively and efficiently to perform several functions.

How long does it take for a pill to get into your bloodstream?

After oral administration of a drug, absorption into the bloodstream occurs in the stomach and intestine, which usually takes about one to six hours.

What is the pill under your tongue for anxiety?

Lorazepam is used to treat anxiety disorders. It is also used for short-term relief of the symptoms of anxiety or anxiety caused by depression. Lorazepam is a benzodiazepine that works in the brain to relieve symptoms of anxiety.

Is sublingual better than swallowing?

One reason for selecting the sublingual route is to avoid drug destruction. Because gastric acid and intestinal and hepatic enzymes are bypassed, sublingual absorption can be more efficient overall for certain drugs than intestinal uptake. The onset of drug effect may also be quicker than with oral ingestion.

Which is better, sublingual or buccal suboxone?

The buccal film is not bioequivalent to buprenorphine / naloxone sublingual tablets (SUBOXONE). Relative to without liquids, co-administration of liquids with BUNAVAIL buccal film reduces systemic exposure up to 59% for buprenorphine and up to 76% for naloxone, depending on the pH of the liquid.

Which route of drug administration is the fastest?

Intravenous administration is the best way to deliver a precise dose quickly and in a well-controlled manner throughout the body. It is also used for irritating solutions, which would cause pain and damage tissues if given by subcutaneous or intramuscular injection.

Which pills can you split?

Other common medications that can be cut in half
  • Acetaminophen (Tylenol)
  • Aspirin.
  • Levothyroxine tablets (Euthyrox, Synthroid, and others) — it's not safe to open brand Tirosint capsules.
  • Most prednisone tablets — it's not safe to split Rayos tablets (or its generic version)
  • Warfarin (Coumadin, Jantoven)

What happens if sublingual medications are swallowed?

But because of what scientists call “first-pass metabolism,” if you swallow Subutex instead of letting it dissolve under your tongue, only a very small amount of the medicine will be absorbed.

Can you buy buccal tablets over the counter?

As Buccastem M tablets is a 'Pharmacy-only' (P) medicine a pharmacist needs to have a consultation to make sure treatment is appropriate before you can purchase Buccastem M tablets.

What happens if you drink water after mouthwash?

Wait Before Eating or Drinking: Don't eat or drink for at least 30 minutes after using mouthwash. This gives the active ingredients time to work without getting washed away. Don't Dilute: Even though it might seem like a good idea to water down mouthwash to make it milder, it can actually make it less effective.

Can all pills be taken sublingually?

Almost any form of substance may be amenable to sublingual administration if it dissolves easily in saliva. Powders and aerosols may all take advantage of this method. However, a number of factors, such as pH, molecular weight, and lipid solubility, may determine whether the route is practical.

Why is it called buccal?

It's derived from the Latin bucca, meaning “cheek.” The masses of fat and muscle that we call cheeks are contained in a pocket of space on our face called the buccal space. The buccal space has an impact on a lot of things, notably the shape of our face and our chewing.

How long do sublingual pills take to dissolve?

There are pharmacokinetic advantages to administering drugs sublingually, 3 but the purpose of this letter is to focus on problems associated with this route: (1) accidently swallowing (first-pass metabolism leading to decreased drug effect) or spitting out (no drug effect); (2) variable dissolving time (2–15 minutes), ...

What are examples of buccal?

How to Use buccal in a Sentence
  • Much of the online backlash to buccal fat removal comes from how the surgery can age. ...
  • At the start of the vetting process, I was sent a buccal swab kit to collect cells from inside my cheek. ...
  • With buccal fat removal, excess fat is taken out of the face.

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