[Interview] "Mass production of minish in 2 years⋯Global dental market will be a game changer"

[Reporter Shim Min-kwan, The Korea Economic Daily]
[Interview] Kang Jeong-ho, CEO of Minish Technology, a former dental hospital director and entrepreneur

"My goal is to build a mass production system for Minish, a tooth restoration prosthesis that minimizes tooth loss, within two years to cut the price by half and realize economies of scale. We will replace laminates and crowns with Minish and become a game changer in the global dental market."

In an interview on June 23, Kang Jeong-ho, CEO of Minish Dental Hospital and founder of medical tech company Minish Technology, talked about his future business goals. Minish treatment is a tooth restoration solution that uses a material that most closely resembles natural teeth (Minish Block), which is polished with ultra-precise processing technology and bonded to damaged teeth.

Founder and CEO of Minish Technology. /미니쉬테크놀로지

Dr. Kang developed the aesthetic prosthodontic treatment in 2012 while practicing dentistry, and unlike prosthetic treatments such as laminates and crowns, it requires little to no removal of existing teeth. It is called a "natural tooth-saving treatment" because it removes more than 90% less teeth than conventional prosthetic treatments.

This has gone viral, and celebrities such as Shinsegae Group Vice Chairman Jung Yong-jin have used Minish treatments. In total, more than 500 celebrities have received Minish treatment. In 2018, the company opened a 14-story Minish Dental Hospital in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, with a large dental laboratory consisting of 20 dental technicians.

Kang didn't stop there. He started his own medical technology company to develop minish materials and improve ultra-precision machining technology with the goal of 'perfecting the repair of damaged teeth. Kang, who founded Minish Technology in February 2021, acquired a tooth material development company last year, and then collaborated with a semiconductor inspection equipment company to develop equipment to increase the precision of ultra-precision machining. "We can receive 3D scan information about the patient's oral condition online from anywhere in the world, and produce minish and supply them worldwide," said Kang. "Establishing a mass production system for minish will be a stepping stone to enter the global market." Here's the full story.

What is minish treatment.

"In a nutshell, it can be defined as a tooth restoration solution that minimizes tooth loss. The idea is to make it look like your own tooth again. To explain further, it's a tooth restoration solution that uses a material that most closely resembles natural teeth (minichess blocks), which are polished with ultra-precise machining technology and bonded to the damaged tooth. Minishblocks are sliced down to 0.1 millimeters and bonded to the tooth. The thinner the block, the less the natural tooth that it is attached to.

It reduces tooth loss by more than 90% compared to prosthetic treatments like laminates and crowns. Because there is very little tooth removal, a Minish treatment can give you a tooth that will last a lifetime. If teeth were cell phones, the processed Minish blocks would be like the protective film on a cell phone. It seals them tightly, keeping bacteria and debris out, and it doesn't crack. The molars, which are subjected to a lot of chewing force, are also characterized by advanced technology to prevent them from breaking."

Minish and traditional prosthetic laminates with adjustable tooth shape fit and transparency. /미니쉬테크놀로지

The Minish treatment warranty is.

"Most dental treatments have a one-year warranty, but Minish has a 10-year warranty. It's been 10 years since I started Minish treatment, and I haven't had any problems. If there are no problems in another five years, I will extend the warranty to 15 years."

Minish treatment scope is.

"Minish can be used for most dental treatments, except for implants. In addition to prosthetic treatments to fill cavities, Minish can also be used to straighten teeth in a single day. If you have uneven teeth, you can use Minish to visually straighten them."

Minish ingredients are.

"It is exclusively sourced through Vita, a German dental materials company. The material is similar to natural teeth in terms of fracture strength, abrasion, transparency, and light transmission. For now, Minish is sourcing its materials from Vita, but the company plans to use its own materials in the future. That's why we acquired a tooth material company last year."

What inspired you to start the company.

"I needed more precise processing equipment and better tooth materials, but I was limited by the difficulty in obtaining them from existing suppliers. I decided to develop materials with similar properties to natural teeth and create more precise processing equipment myself, so I founded my own company in February 2021. By vertically integrating the manufacturing of tooth materials and the development of production facilities, he believed that he could lower the cost of supplying minishees, and once mass production was possible, the price could be reduced to half the current level. The goal is to increase the cost-effectiveness ratio (price-performance ratio) so that more people can receive Minish treatment."

I'm curious about the price of Minish.

"Depending on the grade of minish, the price ranges from 800,000 to 1.5 million won. It is currently twice as expensive as laminates or crowns using ceramics. Currently, Minish is mostly used by people with high economic status, and the key is to build a mass production system to bring the price down to a level comparable to laminates and crowns."

How you will supply the minishees.

"The business model of a company like Invisalign, which receives patients' oral health data online and then produces and delivers clear aligners (in a large-scale manufacturing facility) on a global scale, is the business direction we are pursuing. With the recent acceleration of our digital transformation, we can take orders from anywhere in the world and supply Minish. We don't even need to build hospitals overseas. We just need to receive the data of the patients' oral conditions and produce and supply Minish based on that. Minish is a game changer that will revolutionize K-dentistry around the world."

There's also an information technology (IT) solutions development department.

"We are analyzing the 150,000 Minish treatments accumulated so far and building an IT platform that will allow Minish-certified hospitals to easily transmit patient oral health data. The IT platform will allow us to accelerate Minish's global expansion."

I heard you're opening a Minish Academy and doing some training.

"In order to achieve economies of scale through mass production, there has to be a market. This is only possible when there is a large enough demand for Minish. The academy was created to share the Minish treatment and increase the number of hospitals offering Minish treatments. There are now 20 Minish-certified hospitals, including two in Canada."

Funding status.

"We received 7 billion won in investment last year and 4 billion won this year, totaling 11 billion won in cumulative investment. The company is currently valued at 50 billion won. We are not considering financial investment (FI) because there is no difficulty in raising capital."

Shinsegae Group Vice Chairman Jung Yong-jin is also said to have undergone Minish treatment.

"Once, Vice Chairman Chung, who was treated with Minish at our hospital, invited us to have a meal. He cooked for us and posted on his social media (SNS), 'I've been suffering from chipped teeth for the past two years, and the Minish dentists who treated me so well visited Yonginjinsuki Kitchen.'"

If you have a philosophy as a doctor.

"'Don't overdo it, don't harm the teeth, and don't make it painful' are the three pillars of my practice. But even if you have a philosophy, it's hard to stick to it if you don't have the skills to implement it. Helping people use their teeth for life is what I want to do."

About Minish Technology Company