By RAELYNN RICARTE
News staff writer
January 5, 2008

Hood River’s “dancing dentist” has retired after 33 years of service to the community and turned his practice over to a native resident.

Dr. Harvey Wixman, 65, recently handed off the dental drill at the 505 Sherman Ave. office to Dr. Neil Watanabe, 44, who has been practicing locally for 15 years. Wixman hopes to now woo his wife of 42 years, Patricia, into spending more time on the ballroom dance floor.

However, she is equally interested in turning over to him some of the responsibility for running their 7-acre cherry orchard in Odell. She also has visions of crossing off projects from a long “honey-do” list.

“I’ve always been the behind-the-scenes person and I’ll have less ‘honey-dos’ now that he’s retired,” Patricia said.

Wixman plans to continue taking time away from any work schedule to play billiards with cronies at the Elks Lodge. He is pondering whether to become more vocal about his political stands on current events — but acknowledges that will be no different than a typical work day at the office.

The dentist who kept abreast of any new techniques that evolved in the industry could also be counted on to provide his patients with plenty of debate material.

For example, he was known to comment that the only reason the Democratic Congress wasn’t gloating over the Republican president’s low approval rating was that theirs was worse.

Wixman seemed to have an uncanny knack for deciphering patients’ replies even when uttered from an open mouth during an examination.

“He (Watanabe) is smarter than I am so he probably won’t get into those discussions, although I’d be happy to give him some lessons,” said Wixman.

Watanabe declined to share any of his own political views during an interview and referred to his personal sense of humor as “reasonable.” His expression during Wixman’s departing commentary on the state of the union alternated between restrained humor and shock.

“Give him some time and he’ll get over the shock of what’s gone on here,” said Wixman.

Despite his reticence to follow Wixman’s outspoken lead, Watanabe was quick to express admiration for his successor’s professional abilities.

“I think that he’s a great dentist and I just hope to maintain the quality of work that he has done for more than three decades,” he said.

Watanabe is now responsible for filling teeth, attaching crowns, performing root canals and meeting other general dentistry needs at the business. The five staffers hired by Wixman have remained to assist him in treating patients.

Watanabe is a third-generation orchardist and owns a 50-acre pear orchard in Odell. The 1992 graduate of the Oregon Health & Science University dental school said he was pleased to return home after 10 years of practicing primarily in Portland.

He arrived at dentistry as a profession by an unusual route, having first chosen to obtain a degree in zoology. During a study of mammal teeth at Oregon State University, Watanabe found his interest hooked and turned his career path toward humans.

“The rest is history, I guess,” he said.

Wixman said Watanabe was chosen to take over his practice because he fulfilled two key requirements: He was honest and did good work.

Watanabe is appreciative that Wixman has left him equipped with the latest in technology that makes dentistry a pleasant experience for patients. Watanabe said he would likely follow in Wixman’s footsteps and join two academic dental study groups in Portland.

Wixman said he was continually challenged to become a better dentist by performing work that was evaluated by his peers, and vice versa.

“The goal of any dentist should be continual self-improvement,” said Wixman, who earned ready agreement from Watanabe.