Chewing Gum as Novel Approach for Delivery of Medicament:A Review

Chewing gums are mobile drug delivery system. Today chewing gum is an excellent drug delivery system for self medication and can be administered directly without water. Medicated chewing gums are solid, single dose preparation with a base consisting mainly gums that are intended to be chewed but not swallowed. It is used for both local and systemic effects. This drug delivery system can release drug through oral mucosa directly in to the systemic circulation. This delivery system has many advantages like fast onset of action, no first pass metabolism, taste masking, patient compliance, less side effects etc. For the dissolution of chewing gums there is no any apparatus in USP but in European Pharmacopoeia there is as such method for dissolution purpose. Most of the chewing gums were used for smoking cessation, travel illness, pain relief and prevention of dental caries, alleviation of xerostomia, vitamin or mineral supplementation. It was concluded that chewing gum delivery system is convenient, easy to administer- anywhere, anytime and its pleasant taste improves patient compliance. Chewing gum is viable alternative to traditional dosage forms for drugs intended to cure or relieve disease in the oral cavity.