First Setback in “Social Life” Outside the Dental Clinic
Realizing the Importance of Systems and Making a Comeback to the Industry
Founding a Company to Provide Optimized Minish Treatment
“Keeping My Own Teeth for Life” Is Now My Mission
Targeting Physical AI with Oral Data
Lowering Prices to Benefit People Around the World
CEO Kang Appears on the YouTube Show “Consume the Money”
Kang Jeong-ho, CEO of Minish Technology, appeared on the YouTube channel “Sobi the Money,” which has 1 million subscribers, and opened up about his life story, including his time at Minish.
He openly shared not only his life as a business leader but also his own “embarrassing past” (?) without holding anything back. CEO Kang stated, “Money itself wasn’t the goal; I arrived at this point by pursuing a meaningful way of life,” adding, “Ultimately, my goal is to ensure that people around the world can receive affordable dental care without having to suffer from dental diseases for long periods or lose their teeth.”
Here are the key points.
A Restaurant Failure Story: A Bitter Lesson in Life
Behind his current success lie painful failures and a period of uncertainty. When he first opened his practice in Seongnam in 2005, his financial situation was tight, so he relied solely on his physical stamina to work night shifts every day—a decision that took a heavy toll on his health. Although I made a lot of money in a short period, I fell into a rut and even opened a seafood restaurant in Gwangju with the intention of quitting dentistry.
Things went smoothly at first, but as competitors sprang up like mushrooms after rain, I eventually faced setbacks and had to close the restaurant. However, this experience actually became an opportunity to view the social system through the eyes of the general public. It helped me break away from a labor-intensive approach to medical care and realize the importance of “systems.” After much deliberation, I turned my attention to digital CAD/CAM.
Since the introduction of CAD/CAM, the time required to produce dental restorations has been reduced from one week to less than one hour, as teeth are scanned and milled directly by a robot in-house. The advent of the “one-day treatment” era has greatly improved patient convenience. As dentists have been able to treat more patients, the foundation was laid for the “one-day system,” which is now one of Minish’s core strengths.
“If they were family, I wouldn’t over-treat them.”
I’ve always thought of my patients as if they were my own family. If I imagine them as my son, daughter, or parents, I could never come up with a treatment plan that involves unnecessary procedures. From the very beginning of my practice, I’ve upheld the principles of “no unnecessary treatment, no harm to the teeth, and no unnecessary drilling.”
Based on this philosophy, I simply tried not to grind down the teeth, avoid unnecessary treatments, and provide pain-free care—and the result was Minish. By not grinding down the teeth, the treatment actually helped preserve their health.
Evolving into a healthcare platform company
The reason I didn’t just remain as the director of a dental hospital but instead founded a company was to further refine and customize the Minish treatment. Although precision machining equipment, software, and adhesives were already available in the industry, none of them were optimized for Minish. Since no one else was providing what I needed, I set out to find a solution on my own.
The company’s goal is to enable patients to use their natural teeth for a lifetime without needing implants. Minish is just one of the technologies designed to achieve this. Today, the company goes beyond simply treating patients to educating dentists and providing them with the necessary solutions and equipment. It is preparing to evolve into a medical platform company that connects patients and dental clinics.
This technological expertise and know-how recently led to the company securing 30 billion won in investment from a major investment firm.
“K-Dentistry” Technology That Has Captivated Japan
While it took five years to secure about 50 partner dental clinics in South Korea, the response in Japan has been so enthusiastic that more than 60 clinics have adopted Minish in less than a year.
This is a remarkable change when you consider that, in the past, Korean dentists used to learn these techniques from Japanese mentors by studying Japanese translations. Now, however, Japanese dentists are coming to Korea to learn the Minish technique. This demonstrates Minish’s growing standing in the global market.
230,000 Data Points and “Physical AI”
Over the past 20 years, the company has accumulated 230,000 sets of dental data through scanning. It has laid the groundwork for the era of “Physical AI.” The goal is to reduce the proportion of manual work, automate ultra-precision machining processes, and establish a mass production system.
To lower production costs so that everyone around the world can receive affordable dental care without suffering from dental diseases or losing their teeth. This is Minish Technology’s clear roadmap for the future.
