The first references to pills were found on papyruses in ancient Egypt, and contained bread dough, honey or grease. Earlier medical recipes, such as those from 4000 BC, were for liquid preparations rather than solids. Pills are thought to date back to around 1500 BC. The tablet is just one of the many forms that an oral drug can take such as syrups, elixirs, suspensions, and emulsions. A tablet can be formulated to deliver an accurate dosage to a specific site in the body it is usually taken orally, but can be administered sublingually, buccally, rectally or intravaginally. About two-thirds of all prescriptions are dispensed as solid dosage forms, and half of these are compressed tablets. The compressed tablet is the most commonly seen dosage form in use today. Sizes of tablets to be swallowed range from a few millimetres to about a centimetre.
Tablets are often imprinted with symbols, letters, and numbers, which allow them to be identified, or a groove to allow splitting by hand. Medicinal tablets were originally made in the shape of a disk of whatever colour their components determined, but are now made in many shapes and colours to help distinguish different medicines. A polymer coating is often applied to make the tablet smoother and easier to swallow, to control the release rate of the active ingredient, to make it more resistant to the environment (extending its shelf life), or to enhance the tablet's appearance. The excipients can include diluents, binders or granulating agents, glidants (flow aids) and lubricants to ensure efficient tabletting disintegrants to promote tablet break-up in the digestive tract sweeteners or flavours to enhance taste and pigments to make the tablets visually attractive or aid in visual identification of an unknown tablet. Tablets are prepared either by moulding or by compression.
The main advantages of tablets are to ensure a consistent dose of medicine that is easy to consume. It comprises a mixture of active substances and excipients, usually in powder form, that are pressed or compacted into a solid dose. Tablets may be defined as the solid unit dosage form of medication with suitable excipients. A tablet (also known as a pill) is a pharmaceutical oral dosage form ( oral solid dosage, or OSD) or solid unit dosage form.
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