Dental Compounding

Dentists are faced with many unique therapeutic problems that typically are not encountered by physicians. We can help solve these problems by working together to provide customized medications that meet the specific needs of each patient. Here a just a few examples of how we can improve dental health by compounding medications:

Appropriate Dosage Forms - Sometimes a patient may benefit from direct topical application of a medication to an affected area. However, due to the nature of the oral mucosa, many products will not adhere, or are formulated in such a way that topical application in the mouth would not be appropriate. We can place the needed medication into your choice of dosage form such as:
oral rinse
suspension
lollipop
lip balm
"mucosal bandage"

Compatible Base - Dentists may wish to directly apply a medication to an exposed area of the tooth during a procedure. However, the active ingredient may be only commercially available in an inappropriate base. We can prepare medications in diluents or bases are most suitable to the particular intended use.

Convenient to Use - A patient may have a dental problem that does not respond to a single-ingredient oral rinse. The dentist may want the patient to also use two other medications. However, taking multiple prescriptions can be inconvenient and costly. We can compound numerous medication into a preparation that contains the needed concentrations of each drug - and is much more economical and convenient for the patient.

Medication Hard to Find - Pharmaceutical companies may stop making products for which there is a limited demand. However, some patients may respond better to a discontinued medicine than to its newer counterpart. We can obtain the pure active ingredient(s), and from them prepare a customized dosage form that may even be superior to the discontinued formulation.

Sugar, Preservative, Dye or Lactose Free - Elixirs, syrups, and suspensions may contain a preservative such as alcohol which can cause irritation, or sugar which makes the medication undesirable for prolonged use in the mouth. We can prepare sugar-free and preservative-free dosage forms. Often patients are allergic to dyes and other excipients, thus limiting therapeutic options. We can obtain the desired active ingredient as a pharmaceutical grade chemical and compound the medication without problem-causing additives such as dyes or lactose.
Flavored to Please - Many times, patients are non-compliant because the flavor of a medication is offensive. This is particularly a problem with children and individuals with chronic illness. With a choice of many flavors and colors to match, we can compound the right flavor to please any palate or mask just about any aftertaste - or we can create a flavor-free preparation when desired.

Correct Dosage - Medications are commercially available in a limited number of strengths, which often requires taking portions or multiple units to receive the needed amount of medication. We can compound the exact dose of medication into the most suitable dosage form, and eliminate waste or the need to swallow several tablets or capsules for a single dose.