The present disclosure provides pharmaceutical compositions for the delivery of a hypnotic agent across the oral mucosa. In particular, the compositions devoid of buffer and in the presence of alkaline oxides capable of raising the pH of saliva to a pH greater than about 7.0 thereby facilitate the substantially complete conversion of the hypnotic agent from its ionized to its un-ionized form. As a result, the dose of hypnotic agent is rapidly and efficiently absorbed by the oral mucosa with surprisingly low inter-subject variability. Furthermore, delivery of the hypnotic agent across the oral mucosa advantageously bypasses hepatic first pass metabolism of the drug and avoids enzymatic degradation of the drug within the gastrointestinal tract. Methods for using the compositions of the present invention for treating sleep disorders such as insomnia are also provided.
