Retired dentist uses drill skills to help cancer patients

For four decades, Sam Lewinshtein drilled and smoothed out people's teeth.

Now the retired Ottawa dentist is putting those skills to work for a new clientele: cancer patients.

Lewinshtein and his fellow members of the Ottawa Valley Woodturners have been carving 150 immaculate wooden wig stands for people whose cancer treatments have caused their hair to fall out.

"Cancer does not know boundaries, [whether] it's creed, race, age, sex," Lewinshtein told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning on Thursday.

"And if we can give them something to support them, to make them happy, to add to their quality of life — for us, it's a great project."

Project 'very personal'

The woodworking club attracts a somewhat older demographic, Lewinshtein said, meaning there's almost no one involved with the project who hasn't been touched by cancer.

The carvers often sign the bottom of the stands with their names, he said.

"This is something [that's] a very personal project. As you can see, people put their heart and soul into it."

The club planned to donate 150 wig stands to the Canadian Cancer Society during 2017, Canada's 150th anniversary, said Lewinshtein.

While they're slightly behind that goal, Lewinshtein said they've delivered about one-third of the stands to the society — with the rest on the way.

From teeth to trees

Lewinshtein said his particular specialty is working with the tree's burl — a knotty deformation that can often lead to wood grains with "amazing colours [and] amazing forms."

Not only do the woodworking arts complement skills built up over a lifetime probing people's mouths, he said, but his new hobby comes with one added benefit.

"[The] patients don't usually complain, you know. Wood does not complain."