Advantages:
The major advantages
of tablets over capsules, which has recently proved significant, is that the
tablet is an essentially tamperproof dosage forms.
Disadvantages:
- Some patient particularly children and the
seriously ill – persons may not be able to swallow tablets.
- Some drugs resist compression into dense
compacts, owing to their amorphous nature or flocculent, low – density
character.
- Drugs with poor wetting, slow dissolution
properties, intermediate to large dosage, and optimum absorption in
gastrointestinal tract or any combination of these features may be
difficult or impossible to formulate or manufacture as a tablet that will
still provide adequate or full drug bioavailability.
- Bitter tasting drugs, drugs with an
objectionable odour or drugs that are sensitive to oxygen or atmospheric
moisture may require encapsulation or entrapment prior to compression or
the tablets may require coating. In such case, the capsule may offer the
best and lowest cost approach.
