By MSC. Maria Ines Alvarez Garay (*)
«(…) In the doctor we need three things: human quality, intellectual quality and the indispensable political-moral quality (…)» Fidel Castro.
In Farafenni, a town in the interior of the Gambia, we find Dr. Marcial Reborido Calvi, a First Degree specialist in Comprehensive General dentistry and Master in Community Oral Health, a dentist who puts heart into his profession, an excelent human being and great professional, who seeks successful solutions to satisfy his patients.
An 11-year-old girl with no history of pathological disease arrives at her Dentistry consultation at Farafenni Hospital, with a discomfort on one side of her mouth.
During the interrogation, she said that for some time a lesion had been noticed in the region of the left cheek, which increased slowly over time, without pain, but that when she closed her mouth it caused her discomfort.
She also stated that she ate hot and spicy foods, that she practiced unilateral chewing (left side) and the habit of cheilophagia (cheek bite, specifically the left cheek).
She had never received dental care.
On clinical examination, a rounded submucous, elastic hard and whitish formation was observed, with a diameter of plus and minus 1.5 mm, located on the buccal mucosa of the left cheek at the level of the occlusion line.
A suspected fibroma (hyperplasia of fibrous tissue caused by irritative factors) was diagnosed. After all the corresponding complementary examinations were indicated, he underwent the treatment: surgical excision of the lesion.
The patient continued in consultation until her dentistry discharge with a favorable evolution corroborating the biopsy, the presumptive diagnosis.
This is how Eternal Fidel’s doctors act. The girl did not have to travel miles in search of a maxillofacial surgeon. The firm intellect, the will and courage to face diseases and overcome them are a maxim in Cuban doctors, graduates and health technicians .
The Gambian population praises and appreciates the work of the members of the Cuban Medical Brigade, who provide security, confidence and hope.
Dr. Reboridol, thank you very much for your nobility, generosity and unlimited altruism. The grateful will be with you forever.
(*) Professor and collaborator of the Medical Brigade in Gambia
"An Island on a Continent" 