"Look inside yourselves and feel the pain of others... When you do, you will be better professionals and human beings." That phrase is not a speech. It is what Omelio Fontaine Machado repeats to his residents every day at the 3 de Octubre dental clinic, and it is also what summarizes his 33 years of experience behind the green instruments.

His day starts before 8:00 in the morning. He organizes the consultation with the residents, those he considers his right hand. Then come the educational activities in the waiting room, patient motivation, and personalized attention. At the end, around 4:00 or so in the afternoon, the days of seminars, classrooms, and teaching lighten on their shoulders.

And when he gets home, the day does not end: he reviews articles, conceives publications, fulfills his responsibility as editor of the magazine of the Las Tunas University of Medical Sciences.

"The truth is that I practically spend more time here in the clinic than at home," he admits naturally.

Regarding Latin American Dentistry Day, Omelio Fontaine Machado received the Manuel (Piti) Fajardo Medal for his 25 years of work. In dialogue with 26, he assures that he has only fulfilled the commitment that moves him from the most beautiful profession in the world.

"I didn't expect it. They caught me by surprise because they told me to fill out the form, but I didn't expect it. For me it is more than a satisfaction; it is a challenge, because from now on I must go out and be better every day," he confessed with the simplicity of someone who does not seek honors.

A VOCATION THAT WAS BORN EARLY

Graduated in 1992, Omelio began working at the 14 de Junio Hospital, in the municipality of Jobabo, where he held management positions and was head of department for 10 consecutive years. From there, he left for Holguín to train as a specialist, and later fulfilled an internationalist mission in Venezuela, where he continued to improve himself: master's degree, second-degree specialty, and once back in Cuba, the doctorate in Medical Health Sciences, which he completed in 2024.

"Periodontology is the specialty that I have always liked, and I have tried to get ahead, trying very hard," he says. And he confesses the secret of his perseverance: "I have had the privilege of having some teachers who have been examples throughout my training, and as a result I have tried to follow in their footsteps."

For Omelio, it is not just any specialty. "It is said that periodontologists are the clinicians of Stomatology, because we have to see from the clinical point of view, from the radiographic point of view, above all, the risk factors of each disease."

But what he is most passionate about is the change it can bring about in a person. "Patients who arrive with a look of anguish catch me right away, which is why we have to be sensitive to each day because we know that a patient with periodontal disease comes with complexes, with low self-esteem, but we can change that."

Although he enjoys attending, teaching holds a special place in his heart. "I don't like to teach students for an exam; I like to teach them for life, so that they know how to face a patient and find the appropriate solution."
This humanism led him to lead the categorization of excellence in the specialty of Periodontology, the first to achieve that merit in Las Tunas Stomatology. Today he dreams of other specialties following the same path.

THE CHALLENGES OF THESE TIMES

Omelio does not avoid difficulties. He knows that the scarcity of resources hits his specialty, but he looks for alternatives. "We are assuming the resolution of the problems at this time with the use of Natural and Traditional Medicine, which is very effective for the relief, recovery and rehabilitation of patients."

And he adds a truth that defines it: "Stomatology is not a luxury. Here, in Cuba, it is a normal specialty like any other. What we have to try is for the population to leave satisfied with our service."

For Omelio Fontaine, professional fulfillment has a specific face. "The greatest satisfaction that a Stomatology professional has is when we carry out a curative treatment and rehabilitation of a patient, giving them a smile, making their face change, making them feel motivated, making them feel like living." 33 years of delivery. More than three decades of getting up early, organizing consultations, training residents, and publishing research.

In times when resources are lacking, challenges are abundant, and the demands of Medicine leave a tangible mark, men like Omelio Fontaine remember why it is worth it. His medal does not reward only 25 years; luckily for the people of Las Tunas, it celebrates an entire life dedicated to returning smiles.