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Buccal administration is a way to take medication without chewing or swallowing. Here are 9 things to know about buccal medications and when they may be a good option for you.
Bucca means cheek. Therefore, the buccal area in your mouth is the cheek. With buccal administration, you insert it in between your cheek and gums. Do not chew it, swallow it, or wash it down with a drink. Hold it between your cheek and gum and let it dissolve naturally.
The tissues of the mucus membranes inside your mouth absorb the medicine and send it directly into your bloodstream. It takes only about five to ten minutes for the medicine to start working on symptoms when applied this way.
Buccal medicines can come in sprays, liquids, tablets, lozenges, and films. Before buccal administration, there are some things you should know, like the ones listed below.
Facts About Buccal Medications
1. Compounding
A compounding pharmacy can compound all buccal medications. This means your pharmacist can create your medicine from scratch. They use a recipe unique to your needs and preferences. It’s like a personalized, customized product.
2. Emergency Use
Buccal administration is crucial in emergencies and if a person is not conscious but needs medication for survival. Someone else can place the medicine in the buccal pouch inside the mouth.
3. Adverse Reactions
If you have an adverse reaction to a buccal medication, you can spit it out, preventing further adverse reactions.
4. Buccal Administration
Buccal medications can sometimes be challenging to keep in place. It’s best to avoid talking, drinking, or moving the mouth until it dissolves completely. In some, they can trigger an overproduction of saliva, making you want to swallow. Instead, wait until the buccal medication has dissolved.
5. Accidental Swallowing
If you swallow a buccal medication by accident, don’t worry. It will not harm you. However, the medicine may not work as well, or you may not achieve the desired effects.
6. Side Effects
You will likely experience fewer side effects by taking buccal medications due to the gastrointestinal tract and liver bypassing. Side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea occur with some oral medications that must be swallowed.
7. Buccal Administration vs. Sublingual Administration
Buccal medications are different than sublingual medications. Although both are to be dissolved inside the mouth, buccal drugs are placed in the cheek, and sublingual drugs are placed under the tongue.
8. Effects
Buccal medications allow you to receive a higher percentage of the effects because they bypass the digestive system, breaking down some medicines.
9. Doses
Buccal administration also bypasses the liver, allowing you to take lower doses but receiving the same benefits.
These last two facts involving digestion and metabolism are often referred to as the first-pass effect.
First Pass Effect
The first pass effect is the process in which your body breaks down medication and delivers it into your bloodstream so it can be distributed throughout your body. Having a high first-pass effect means less medicine will reach your bloodstream and circulate through the body. A low first-pass effect means more of the medication will be distributed in your body.
Many oral medications like tablets and capsules are coated in materials to lessen the degradation of the medicine when it encounters stomach acid. Inevitably, when the medicine reaches your bloodstream, you do not receive 100% of its effects.
Buccal medicines solve this problem.
Types of Buccal Medications
Almost any medication can be compounded into a buccal form. Common buccal medications include Suboxone, or buprenorphine-naloxone, used to treat opioid addiction. Fentanyl is used for pain, antipsychotics for schizophrenia and bipolar, and nitroglycerin for chest pains related to heart problems.
Other buccal medicines prescribed include anti-seizure, testosterone, nicotine, and antibiotics. Each medicine should be taken with care. Working with your compounding pharmacist, you can learn the dos and don’ts of taking medication.
Buccal Administration: How To Take Buccal Medication
Before taking any medication that will be placed in your mouth, make sure you wash your hands first. Double-check the instructions on the label to ensure the correct dosage. For example, some doctors instruct breaking tablets in half or taking two tablets at once, so you want to follow orders.
Some buccal medicines are meant to spit out after a specific time; others are intended to dissolve entirely in your mouth. This information will also be on the label instructions.
Remove the medicine from its packaging. If it is a liquid, use a syringe provided by your pharmacist to measure the correct dose. Pull your cheek out to see the space between your cheek and gum, and place the medicine in that spot. Allow the medicine to dissolve.
If you think you want to try buccal administration, it’s time to talk to your compounding pharmacist.
Why Use A Compounding Pharmacist?
Compounding pharmacists make you the priority when it comes to creating medication. Most drug manufacturers create drugs to meet the needs of the mass market. For example, they create aspirin in 25mg and 50mg doses, using the same active and inactive ingredients, with the same outer coatings.
- What if you are allergic to the ingredients?
- What if you only need 15mg? Or 100mg?
You find yourself cutting and trying to get as close as possible to the correct dose that alleviates your symptoms.
Compounding pharmacists can create a dose in the exact amount you need.
Other advantages of compounding pharmacies include their ability to make your medicine taste better, adding flavors you enjoy. They can create your buccal medication, or any other medication, in a form that is easiest for you to consume. If you prefer liquid over the pill, they can make it. If you like film over liquid, you can get it.
Compounding pharmacists can combine medications to reduce the number you take each day. For example, they can mix your daily vitamins into your prescription. They can also check for possible drug interactions.
Finally, compounding pharmacies can create medication that can match any religious guidelines you would like to follow, accounts for allergies, and saves you money when possible. Because compounding pharmacists are so accessible, you can seek advice and information about buccal administration at any time, including today. Call or stop in the pharmacy to learn the many options you have regarding your medication.
And if you need more information about how a compounding pharmacy can help, contact Burt’s Rx today! We offer services such as pediatric compounding, pet compounding, compounded medication for pain management, BHRT, and dental compounding.
