Founded in 2021, Minish Technology is a medical technology company that provides Minish, a tooth restoration solution that makes damaged teeth look like their original teeth. It makes ultra-precision processing equipment and researches and produces dental materials with cutting-edge semiconductor companies. The company aspires to become a game changer in the global dental market by replacing crowns, laminates, etc. with Minish in the global prosthetics market worth KRW 20 trillion annually.
Minish Technology has demonstrated with Minish a prosthodontic breakthrough that could rewrite dental textbooks. The treatment and process has been designed to make the concept of ‘my teeth for life’ a reality.
Founder Kang Jung-ho’s experience in running a small neighborhood dental clinic to a large dental hospital in Gangnam was the foundation of his business management. When he opened his dental clinic in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, in 2005 at the age of 29, he set out three principles: “No harm,” “no excess,” and “pain-free treatment. The treatment he wanted for his patients was no different. He focused his efforts on painless anesthesia and stayed open late every night. The hospital quickly became established thanks to word of mouth about its painless treatment and late hours.
A 3D cadcam at a friend’s dentist’s office was a turning point. It opened my eyes to the idea of taking impressions with a scanner like a photograph without opening a bone, and using a milling machine to make prosthetics instead of a machinist. Convinced that it was the future of dentistry, he bought and tested equipment and programs, and moved to Gangnam, convinced of the digital era.
It was established in 2009 near Seolleung Station. A plaque reading ‘Today’s Dental Clinic’ was installed to signify that patients can comfortably complete prosthetic treatment on the same day of their visit. The clinic made it convenient by offering ‘one visit, one day treatment’ using a 3D cadcam for treatments that took at least five days. The one-day treatment was a hit, and the clinic was packed.
In Gangnam, the number of patients who wanted to beautify their teeth was increasing, but the aesthetic treatment, laminates, required a lot of tooth removal, which weighed on Kang’s mind. Laminates are more conservative than crowns, which remove 360 degrees of teeth, and even though it is a universal treatment, the question of “Is it a treatment I can recommend to my family?” lingered.
He concluded that sacrificing healthy teeth for aesthetics was overkill and set out to minimize tooth removal. To remove fewer teeth, restorations must be thinner, but the technology at the time only allowed for thicker restorations. Thicker restorations for greater strength meant more tooth removal. Dr. Krause invested in advanced equipment, hired skilled technicians, and immersed himself in research. This was the starting point for Minish.
We worked day and night to overcome the dental industry’s prejudice that it was impossible to make thin restorations out of ceramic materials, and the negative perception that thin restorations would crack if glued to the tooth. When he reached the point where he was able to create restorations that were 0.1 millimeters thick and shaped to fit any curve, he named them Minish. That was in 2012.
Minish is an acronym that stands for Minimally Invasive, Natural Image, Harmonious with the face, and Successful Health. These methodologies, beliefs, and philosophies have resulted in a treatment like no other.
150,000+ clinical cases, 16 years of accumulated experience
At the pinnacle of high-end dentistry
Minish is a tooth restoration solution. It is a restorative treatment in which a restoration is made of a material with the most similar properties to the tooth and then bonded to the damaged tooth to restore its original shape and composition without unnecessary removal. It is based on the theory of biomimicry.
Minish’s core competency is its ultra-precise processing technology. Minish preserves natural teeth as much as possible by minimizing tooth removal without removing unnecessary teeth, which is possible only with ultra-precise machining technology that responds to various curves and thicknesses of teeth. Recently, we have begun to develop equipment with Rino Industry, the world’s No. 1 semiconductor test equipment company, to advance ultra-precision processing technology.
Minishblock is also unique. They are biocompatible and have the most similar physical properties to natural teeth of any dental material available, including fracture strength, compressive strength, tensile strength, abrasion resistance, elasticity, transparency, and coefficient of thermal expansion. It is exclusively sourced from Vita, a 100-year-old global dental materials company. In 2022, we acquired a domestic material company and are conducting research and development to obtain a material that is exactly the same as natural teeth.
The Minish treatment process is as follows 1) We clean your teeth with a small amount of removal that doesn’t require anesthesia, then take impressions using a scanner. 2) The smile line is designed based on the data. 3) A milling machine and machinist create the restoration in various curves, and 4) The restoration is chemically bonded to the tooth using Minish’s unique bonding protocol. It’s easy to imagine a protective film (Minish restoration) on a smartphone (tooth). As long as there are no gaps or bulges, the protective film is unbreakable. If it does, it will crack and take your smartphone with it, which is what happens with Minish.
Minish can address cavities, bruxism, wear and tear, flexion fractures, decay, cracks, and aging. Patients with gaps, crooked teeth, crooked teeth, and extra teeth can also have their bite straightened. Unlike orthodontics, which involves attaching a device to the teeth and repositioning them, orthodontic braces are trimmed and filled. All of these cases can be treated in one day.
The beautiful hair after a Minish treatment is a synergistic effect of treating damaged or uncomfortable teeth. We don’t sacrifice healthy teeth just to look pretty. We even repair molars, which are subject to more than three times the force of the front teeth. It’s clear that the purpose of minish is not cosmetic, but rather to repair damaged teeth. Laminates can’t do molars.
More than 500 celebrities, including Shinsegae Group Chairman Jung Yong-jin, business leaders, and idols and celebrities such as Newzine and Seventeen, performed the minish. More than 100 doctors and their families, including dentists, have also practiced Minish. With more than 150,000 clinical cases and 16 years of “time of accumulation,” Minish is at the pinnacle of high-end dental treatment.
The World’s Teeth for Life is Not an Impossible Cause
In February 2021, Kang gave up his title as head of a large and successful dental clinic in Gangnam to enter the business world. A company, not a hospital, was the right fit to nationalize and globalize Minish. As a clinician, he had used equipment, materials, scanners, and programs created by others to get to this point, and now he wanted to use his know-how to create equipment and systems for the entire dental industry.
Naturally, the company’s goals boiled down to ‘keep my teeth for life’ and ‘build an efficient treatment system for dental industry workers’. Acquisition of material companies, regularization of Minish Academy where doctors learn Minish, expansion of Minish Members Clinic (MMC) where doctors are qualified to treat Minish, and development of IT integration solutions including CRM were carried out sequentially. (Korea’s No. 1 Introduction) The company attracted an investment of 4 billion won from Robot & Design. The two companies collaborated to introduce ‘Minish Robot,’ a milling machine dedicated to minish. Korea’s largest pore research center with 50 Minish robots will soon see the light of day.
Minish Technology has a different business grammar than startups that attract funding with bright ideas. Minish was established 12 years ago and its stable business model is generating revenue. That’s why we’re looking for investors who are aligned with our philosophy and values rather than the size of the investment.
The core business model is as follows Patient visits MMC 🠒 3D scan and diagnosis of the oral cavity 🠒 Data transmission to the headquarters 🠒 Data-driven fabrication and shipment of restorations 🠒 Patient pays for the restorations that are bonded and managed by MMC. MMC pays a fabrication fee and a monthly maintenance fee based on the number of restorations made.
These BMs are similar to AlignTech, the company behind Invisalign, the original clear aligners, in that they “acquire and train member clinics and provide solutions from headquarters. AlignTech pioneered the business of making dental treatment virtually space- and time-independent by utilizing digital devices and has a market capitalization of KRW 70 trillion. Minish Technology’s business is all dental treatments that preserve natural teeth. The company’s market capitalization is not measured in terms of business.
More than 150,000 clinical data from Minish treatments are a key asset for Minish. It is used as the basis for equipment advancements, material development, adhesive upgrades, and more. Combined with AI, it is also expected to pave the way for the commercialization of AI prep machines that automate tooth design or take care of the manual tooth preparation for doctors.
Overseas expansion is also becoming a reality. A Minish treatment unit has been opened at Binh Mek International General Hospital in Hanoi, following the treatment of Vice Chairman of Binh Group Pham Thuy Hang, the “Samsung of Vietnam,” and his family. Six other general hospitals under the Binh Mek Healthcare System will follow suit. In collaboration with Japan’s indigenous Big 4 consulting firm Funai Research Institute, the company is drawing up a concrete blueprint for expansion into Japan. In November, dentists in Japan will receive training on Minish, and a large-scale presentation for dentists is planned for January 2025 in Tokyo.
The U.S. market organizes both the Minish Symposium and Minish Academy to showcase cases and educate physicians. The market outlook is bright, with the Vancouver MMC in Canada operating and practitioners coming to Korea to attend the academy. In addition, the company is promoting the establishment of ‘automated and factoryized laboratories’ to locally produce and supply large quantities of pore products other than minish. While some domestic laboratories have collaborated with overseas dental clinics through global laboratory brokerage platforms, none have entered the U.S. directly.
In the spring of 2023, 15 executives from L’Oréal, including the Vice Chairman of L’Oréal’s headquarters, visited Minish Technology and were introduced to the company and Minish by Mr. Kang. They recognized the potential for tooth restoration in the anti-aging market. According to Vantage Market Research, a U.S. market research firm, the global anti-aging market is expected to reach 140 trillion won in 2030. The possibilities for Minish are endless.
‘My teeth for life’ is not a slogan limited to Korea. Mr. Kang has no intention of making any concessions when it comes to protecting the universal right to health, especially dental health. He wants to do his best to ensure that everyone in the world, regardless of whether they live in a rich or poor country, and regardless of their skin color, can keep their teeth for life.
