Microneedles for oral mucosal delivery - Current trends and perspective on future directions.

MNs are sufficiently robust to cross the oral cavity epithelium and nearly painless when applied to different parts of the human oral mucosa including the lip, cheek, tongue and palate. In recent years, MNs have been evaluated for different applications, including vaccination, topical anesthetic delivery, and treatment of local oral pathologies such as oral lesions or carcinomas. MNs are attractive because they have the potential to produce a better treatment outcome with reduced side effects. Over the coming years, we project a significant increase in research related to the development of MNs for use in dentistry and other medical conditions of the mouth.