Many patients who come to the clinic to receive dental treatment are elderly and have systemic diseases that require precise knowledge of how to treat them, as well their implications and interactions in relation to dentistry and cardiovascular, immune, endocrine, metabolic diseases that the dentist must be aware of these in order to carry out treatments correctly and safely for both the patient and the dentist. Likewise, people with disabilities may present complex and difficult challenges for the dental profession. On top of this is the appearance of secondary oral lesions as a result of taking certain medication, interactions between different medication, or oral manifestations of underlying systemic diseases. These are all considered to be special patients.

At present, academic training in this regard during undergraduate degrees is limited to theory and very little clinical practice, normally on elderly people with little risk. Patients with difficult medical conditions, mental disabilities or who are non-cooperative present pathologies that undergraduate students are not able to handle with ease, given their lack of experience. The techniques, equipment and procedures required for these patients is substantially different in each case, and offers the research opportunities that are not available in conventional programmes. Lastly, the shortage of trained professionals in this area and the demand from specialised centres and hospitals can only be addressed through Postgraduate programmes that cover these aspects.