Orodispersible nutritional medicines are a colourful crew (buccal sprays, ‘melts’, lozenges, gummies galore) with mixed agendas: tasty (patient preferences & increased access); topical (therapeutic agents for the oral cavity itself) and transmucosal (a shortcut for nutrients into systemic circulation). And across the board their popularity is on the rise among complementary medicine consumers. Simultaneously, pressure continues to build for companies to carve out points of difference from their competitors’ products which all contain, let’s face it, the same ol’ nutritional ingredients…any new vitamins or minerals come your way of late? Right?!
One increasingly employed option is to ‘deliver them differently’ – whether that’s via the skin, across the inside of your cheek, under the tongue or offering an explosion in your mouth!
But in terms of how this actually impacts their actions, applications and efficacy – are you across these? Does the science stack up for some of the nut med newbies like GSH buccal spray? And are our old & gold offerings like sublingual B12 still secure in their superiority? I’ve done a deep dive on them all, assessing each on its own merits and I was surprised by what I found out!
This is the fifth episode in our Supplement Boom Series. A series that finally takes the time to reflect on the R & D space within comp meds and nutritional medicine, especially.
I’ve been racing to keep pace with all the new product offerings so that we can confidently prescribe in response to science not a hard sell. I’ve been investigating the new shapes and forms our supplements are taking especially as a response to the rapidly changing commercial landscape within which are some seismic shifts in customer values. Isn’t that us? As prescribers & experts in nutrition you might think that but we’re small fry in this equation – the biggest piece of that pie is the public – the end-stage consumers… And given the almost universal appeal of any option that suggests speed…So ‘rapidly dissolving’ is inferred and heard as, rapidly repleting’ by the lay person. But is it?
Melt-in-the-Mouth Medicine – Pros, Cons & Clinical Pearls
Orodispersible nutritional medicines have burst onto the scene in all shapes, flavours, and ambitions. In Melt-in-the-Mouth Medicines – Pros, Cons & Clinical Pearls, we unravel the three main subtypes—those designed to be tasty, topical, or truly transmucosal—and ask whether each actually delivers on its promises. From clever convenience to questionable claims, we explore the science (and sales spin) behind this rapidly growing delivery format, and share key clinical insights to help you discern when these fast-dissolving formulations offer genuine therapeutic gains—and when they might just leave a bad taste.
You can purchase Melt-in-the-Mouth Medicine – Pros, Cons & Clinical Pearls here. If you are an Update in Under 30 Subscriber, you will this episode waiting for you in your online account. You can become an Update in Under 30 Subscriber to access this episode and the entire library of Update in Under 30 audios and resources here.
