In March 2021, Jungho Kang, CEO of Minish Technology, began a journey to fulfill his lifelong goal of saving my teeth. He gave up his title as the head of a large and successful dental clinic in Gangnam to enter the wild world of business because he knew that if he wanted to take Minish, a tooth restoration solution, nationally and globally, he needed a company, not an individual clinic.
Doctors Become Minish Fans
Dr. Kang’s decision to start his own company came from a seminar in August 2020. It was to celebrate the 10th anniversary of a network dental group run by a university senior, and the 10th anniversary of Kang’s first full-time ceramic treatment. The owners, hygienists, counselors, technicians, and others gathered for a full day of study and discussion to share clinical cases from their clinics.
The network dental group’s doctors were impressed: Minish’s unique precision machining technology, adhesive technology that chemically bonds the restoration and tooth together, treatment plans based on biomimetic theory, and 10-year long term patient stories were all things they had never heard of before. The doctors were enamored with Minish as they saw the proof with their own eyes.
There was so much excitement around the table about the new treatment that dental textbooks should be rewritten. The reason was simple: it was no more harmful than anything they’d ever done before. The audacity to question the taken-for-granted treatment, make improvements, and bring it back to the table was remarkable. They had been researching and innovating for over a decade, and they were confident that they would continue to evolve.
At the time, Minish was viewed with skepticism by the dental community: “It’s no better than laminate,” “Thin restorations will crack,” “It’s a celebrity procedure,” etc. However, the seminar proved to be a success, and the doctors who attended became Minish’s biggest fans. They were determined to spread the word and get every dentist to do Minish.
They were early investors in the company’s founding and remain strong supporters of Minish. The number of like-minded physicians has grown even more: in four rounds of equity financing, the percentage of physician participation has been the highest each time. Looking back, the joint seminar in July 2020 was a historic turning point for Minish.
The difference we make, my teeth for life
Minish Technology has a different business grammar than traditional startups that commercialize bright ideas. Minish is a solution that has already been perfected and clinically proven over 10 years at Minish Dental Clinic. The company is focused on putting systems in place and spreading Minish to make it available to customers anywhere in the world with the same quality.
So, after more than a year of preparation, we opened the Minish Academy in Q1 2022. The Minish Academy is an educational program to train physicians in Minish clinical, application methods and techniques. It’s a four-day course for 20 people, held four times a year, and fills up early each time.
As of October 2024, 190 people have completed the program, with people coming from as far away as the United States, Canada, Japan, and Vietnam. Graduates are vetted and eligible to apply for a Minish Members’ Clinic (MMC). There are 32 MMCs: 30 in Korea and 2 overseas.
At the first Academy, the most common question we received was “Does it break?” Apparently it was a novelty. We don’t get that question anymore, which is a testament to the improved awareness of Minish among doctors.
The company focuses on public relations and marketing. We focus on publicizing Minish’s philosophy, treatment methods, and various clinical cases, not to increase sales. After two to three years of practice, I feel that the public’s interest in conservative treatment plans and methodologies that can keep natural teeth for as long as possible, such as ‘natural teeth for life’ and ‘saving teeth,’ has increased.
Patients are now incredibly sensitive to having teeth removed. Since 2009, the company seems to have accelerated what we’ve been saying and doing in the clinic for decades. Minish Technology is often praised for being a force for good, a quiet change agent.
We are engaged in various businesses to fulfill the company’s founding goals of ‘natural teeth for life’ and ‘efficient solutions for dental professionals’. We acquired a dental material company specializing in dental materials and strive to make materials with the same properties as natural teeth. Cooperate with semiconductor and robotics companies.
We research advanced equipment to create precise restorations and have a pore laboratory to advance processing technology. We also create IT solutions for dental clinics. We operate a Minish Spa to help patients maintain a healthy oral condition after receiving Minish. We also have a preventive treatment and management system, and a lineup of oral hygiene products such as toothbrushes and toothpaste.
Technology’s dream of going global
Minish Technology had a company to benchmark from the start. AlignTech, the makers of Invisalign, the clear aligners. When the company was founded in 1999, it was common knowledge that orthodontists put wires on teeth. The company’s market capitalization once approached $70 trillion, thanks to its innovation in digital and high-tech clear braces.
Minish Technology wants to change the game in dentistry too. We dream of replacing laminates and crowns with minish and becoming a game changer in the global dental market. Orthodontics and anti-aging are also prominent. Everything except implants is a business area.
Minish Technology’s business model is similar to Invisalign’s: acquire and train member clinics, provide solutions at headquarters. Visit MMC 🠒 3D scan and diagnose oral cavity 🠒 Send data to headquarters 🠒 Create and ship data-driven restorations 🠒 Bond and care for restorations at MMC is Minish’s process.
Advances in digital equipment have made dental care less time- and space-bound, and Minish is a perfect fit. That’s why CEOs from global groups such as 3M, L’Oréal Group, and Germany’s Vita have visited the company to discuss collaborations.
Apart from the business model, there are still limitations. Minish restorations are secondarily handcrafted by dental technicians after the first milling machine processing, and ultra-precision milling machines are required for mass production of restorations. To this end, we are developing it in collaboration with Robot & Design, the No. 1 semiconductor robot company in Korea. The 150,000 data accumulated from restoring various damaged teeth is a booster that will shorten the development period of the equipment.
While most Korean healthcare companies expand overseas by building hospitals and sending doctors to the local area, Minish Technology does the opposite. We bring overseas doctors to Korea to train and treat patients in their own country. Once the overseas business is in full swing, Minish Technology will become the first medical company in Korea to export materials, equipment, systems, manual skills and know-how.
