What happens to the height of the CT curve when a buccal tablet is pulverized?

• A. Height decreases
• B. Height unchanged
• C. Height increases
• D. Cannot determine

Answer: (B)

The key idea is that, for buccal delivery, the amount of drug that can reach and cross the mucosa is limited by the mucosal permeability, not by how quickly the drug dissolves. Pulverizing a buccal tablet increases surface area and can speed up dissolution, but once the drug is at the mucosal surface, its transport into the bloodstream depends on the barrier’s permeability and the drug’s properties. That means the maximum concentration you can achieve in plasma from a fixed dose—the height of the concentration-time curve—remains essentially the same. You might see the drug work faster to begin with, but the peak concentration doesn’t change. So the height is unchanged.