When medication is administered orally, flavoring, sweetening, and coloring are vital to patient compliance. Many drugs have disagreeable tastes, and the stronger the taste, the more difficulty patients have in adhering to their medication regimens. Pharmacists cannot simply add a flavor to a dosage form containing a bad-tasting drug and expect it to taste good. A related challenge is to minimize the taste and optimize the texture of dosage forms that remain in the mouth for an extended time, such as troches, lollipops, and gummy gels. For patient acceptance, these dosage forms must have a smooth surface texture but not be disagreeably sticky.
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