Feb. 14 (iVillage Total Health) -- Imagine never having to swallow another pill but still getting the required amount of medication for your illness. German scientists are studying a new medication delivery method that gives you the proper doses administered through dental implants.

Researchers said the prosthesis could be extremely useful for patients who have difficulty following instructions or keeping tracking of how much medicine to take and when. The chronically ill or patients with dementia or substance abuse problems may be good candidates, they said.

The new system, called Intellidrug, can be used for weeks to deliver medications. The dental implant would fit over two molars. A hollowed out compartment inside the tooth is used to store the solid medications.

The patient's saliva acts to dissolve the medication, which is then dispensed through a small valve into the mouth cavity. The drugs can be absorbed by the mucous membranes in the mouth. Sensors inside the prosthesis indicate when the medicine has run out and controls the amount of medication released into the mouth.

A prototype of the implant is scheduled to be presented during a German medical trade fair this month by researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering in St. Ingbert, Germany.

Copyright 2007 iVillage Total Health.