Dr. Hae-Sung Kwak focuses on creating “long-lasting results with one treatment”. With his analytical mind and perfectionist tendencies from his engineering background, Dr. Kwak has studied core processes such as Minish adhesion, resin cement, and photopolymerization in depth and recently received his PhD. Currently, he is the director of Minish Dental Hospital and the general director of Minish Technology Sales Team, leading the training of domestic and foreign doctors and the standardization of Minish quality.
He keeps fit by playing tennis, climbing, and triathlons, and believes that “the best care comes when the physician is healthy and whole,” adding, “No pain, no excess, no harm. Adding details on top of that is my practice philosophy.” Here’s what he had to say
Q. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
A.I am an integrative dentist and Doctor of Dental Medicine, and I am committed to providing long-lasting care for each of my patients. I am also an athletic dentist who enjoys playing tennis, climbing, triathlons (swimming, biking, running), and keeping fit and lifting weights.
Q. Why do you exercise so consistently?
A. For me, exercise is not just a hobby, it’s basic preparation for being a doctor. I exercise to train my body and mind so that I am always in good shape, and from that state of mind, I can make good decisions.
I believe that the best care is delivered when I am healthy and whole, and that real health is not achieved by the doctor alone, but when the doctor and patient work together toward health, meaningful and lasting care is achieved.
Q. What kind of personality were you as a child?
A. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been a stick-in-the-mud kind of guy. I would stay up all night building Legos to the point of nosebleeds, and in math and science, I was constantly trying to get 100s.
This natural inclination led me to engineering school, where I initially planned to pursue a life as an engineer.
Q. What made you decide to change your career path from engineering to dentistry?
A. While I was in engineering school, there was always this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I wanted to do something that would contribute to people in a more direct way.
This led me to rethink my career path, and I was looking for a more enterprising and direct way to contribute to society, which led me to dental school.
Now, I work in the clinic, connecting my immersive nature to patient change and outcomes.
Q. What is the most rewarding moment in your practice?
A. The moment you know you’ve made the right career choice is when you provide care to a patient and hear direct feedback and satisfaction.
I tend to pay a lot of attention to detail. I think small lines, subtle shapes, and tonal differences in color make a big difference in functionality and aesthetics.
The look on a patient’s face when I adjust these details and hear them say they are finally at ease reassures me that this is the right path for me.
Q. How did your relationship with Minish start?
A. My relationship with Minish goes back about 10 years ago, when I met Mr. Jung Ho Kang (CEO of Minish Technology) as a senior and junior, and he saw me in many ways, so he asked me to join him.
That connection led me to join Minish, and we’ve been growing and working together ever since.
Q. In addition to your practice, you also play a role in physician education, right?
A. Currently, I am the Director of Minish Dental Hospital and the General Manager of Minish Technology Sales. In the hospital, I treat patients and conduct various internal and external business meetings, and on other days, I am traveling both domestically and internationally to communicate with Minish Providers. I work to ensure that systems and standards are in place to ensure that the same Minish quality is maintained no matter where the procedure is performed. In short, my role is a combination of care, education, collaboration, and quality control.
Q. What are some of the areas you’ve studied in particular depth regarding Minish therapy?
A. I have a tendency to dig deep when I get stuck on something, so I’ve been studying the core processes of minish: the minish adhesion process, resin cement, photopolymerization, and adaptation.
I’ve been digging into it for a long time because I think missing these parts of Minish really changes the value and longevity of Minish, and I’m currently teaching several lectures in the Minish course, and I’ve been asked by outside organizations to give external lectures as well.
We’re trying to create a continuous loop, where insights from research are fed back into our daily practice, and feedback from practice is fed back into research.
Q. If you could summarize Dr. Kwak’s practice philosophy in one sentence, what would it be?
A. The basics of my practice philosophy are no pain, no excess, and no harm, and my style is to build on that foundation with a lot of detail.
Because Minish is a treatment that seeks both functional recovery and aesthetic improvement, we aim to provide you with high-quality care by double-checking, discussing, and discussing the small details that you may have missed.
When a minish is finished, I show it to the patient first, get their honest opinion, and make sure it’s up to my standards. If the patient asks me to just put it on and I don’t like it, I usually don’t do it. I’m very clear about what I can compromise on and what I won’t compromise on.
Q. Tell us about a memorable patient story
A. One of the most memorable was an artist patient who was an art major. She had a Minish treatment at another practice and came in with a 30-page portfolio because she didn’t like the detail.
They decided they couldn’t go any further and were on the verge of refunding my money, and that’s when I happened to get on the phone with him. We talked for about 30 minutes, and after reading through my portfolio about five times, I felt confident that I could improve on what he was telling me.
So I told her that if she wanted to redo it one more time, I’d put a team together to do it, and we put together a dream team of hygienists, technicians, and a lab manager, and we did the remake in the direction she wanted.
I proceeded with the mindset that I couldn’t afford to make any mistakes, but fortunately, they were so pleased with the results that I was able to complete the treatment without a refund. Afterward, they invited me to an exhibition and sent me a handwritten note, so it remains a very proud case for me.
Since then, I’ve also treated members of girl groups and actors.
Q. What are the most important values you hold in your practice?
A. My value is that when you do a treatment, you do it once, you do it right, and you make it last as long as possible. I believe that the treatment that you do right the first time, rather than the treatment that you do with the assumption that you’re going to remake it later, is the treatment that gives the patient the most value in the end.
I don’t believe there is such a thing as cheap care, so I try to keep learning and developing myself so that the care I provide is worth more than anything else.
Q. How would you describe your personality, strengths and weaknesses?
A. I think I’ve talked a lot about the pros, and I’m going to focus on the cons here, which is that sometimes you focus so deeply on one thing that you forget how to smile for a second, and sometimes you don’t sound very nice.
I’m the type of person who enjoys evidence-based discussions, debates, and arguments, so when I’m talking to someone, they might ask if I’m angry. My MBTI is ESTJ, which means that I sometimes prioritize reason over emotion.
But I’m not actually angry, I’m just so engrossed that my facial expressions and tone of voice are serious. I’d appreciate it if you could understand that I’m not angry, I just forgot to smile for a second.
Q. Do you have a final message for patients?
A. The direction of my practice has always been the same: precision for perfection and consistency for trust. Just as I take care of my physical condition by exercising, I only do treatments in my name that I am responsible for. I promise you treatments that are made to last, treatments that are made to be used once, and treatments that are made to be health-oriented by doctors and patients together.
