A 26-Year Veteran Japanese Dentist Was Also Surprised by Minish — It Felt Different When I Tried It Myself

“Even though I didn’t receive anesthesia, I barely felt any pain. Right after my teeth were adjusted, I could immediately feel with the tip of my tongue how little had been removed.”

Kiyokawa Shoko, the director of Azalea Dental Clinic, which she has run in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, for 16 years, visited Korea. This visit was not just for observation, but to experience Minish herself—not as a dentist who performs Minish.

It Felt So Natural, Like They Had Always Been My Teeth

Director Shoko, who had long been self-conscious about her protruding front teeth and uneven tooth sizes, resolved concerns she had been carrying for a long time in December 2025.

She said the results exceeded her expectations. What surprised her most was the natural look that is characteristic of Minish. As the protrusion was reduced, her lips came together much more comfortably, and as the disproportion caused by small teeth was corrected, her smile line also felt much more organized.

“What was most amazing was that there was no feeling of a foreign object at all. Because the bite was accurate, I was able to eat right after the procedure, and even the tooth color that whitening couldn’t fix now feels naturally brighter.”

A Choice She Thought About Even More Because She Was a Dentist

This is Director Kiyokawa Shoko’s before-and-after appearance with Minish.

As a dentist with 26 years of experience, Director Shoko had considerable concerns before entrusting her own teeth to the treatment. Because she understood the dental treatment process better than anyone, she was especially burdened by the idea of tooth reduction.

“Because I know more than my patients do, it wasn’t easy to decide. Our Azalea Dental Clinic also values minimal reduction. But Minish uses a material similar to natural teeth while greatly reducing the amount of tooth removal, so even as a dentist, I could fully accept it.”

Trust in Minish Deepened Through Her Visit to Korea

Last October, Director Shoko visited Minish Dental Hospital in Korea with 13 Azalea Dental Clinic staff members to observe firsthand how Minish is performed in practice

Instagram of アゼリア歯科クリニック ホワイトエッセンス逆瀬川님 : ". 兵庫県宝塚市にあるアゼリア歯科クリニック ホワイトエッセンス逆瀬川院です🌺 . 10/29〜31に診療をおやすみさせていただき 研修旅行として韓国に行かせていただきました🇰🇷✨ 今回の研修の目的であるミニッシュ歯科にて 見学&講習を受けてきました😆✨ . 韓国では人気の治療である【ミニッシュ】！ みなさん聞いたことはございますか？ 元々は修復の治療として使われていましたが 審美性の高さから、最近では審美性を目的として 受けられる方も多い治療です✨ . ミニッシュはミニッシュ歯科から認定を受けた 歯科医院でしかできません。 当院では関西で初めてのミニッシュができる歯科医院です✨ . 今回はミニッシュ歯科での内容を ぎゅっとつめた動画になっています💖✨ . ミニッシュってなに？ ミニッシュってどういう治療？ どのくらい期間がかかるの？ 歯を削るの？ どのくらい綺麗になるの？ という疑問を、今回学ばせていただいたことから 皆様にお伝えしていければと思います😆✨ . . #アゼリア歯科クリニック #ホワイトエッセンス逆瀬川 #ミニッシュ #ミニッシュメンバーズクリニック #韓国 #渡韓 #江南 #minish #歯を守ろうミニッシュしよう" azalea_dental - November 3, 2025: ". 兵庫県宝塚市にあるアゼリア歯科クリニック ホワイトエッセンス逆瀬川院です🌺 . 10/29〜31に診療をおやすみさせていただき 研修旅行として韓国に行かせていただきました🇰🇷✨ 今回の研修の目的であるミニッシュ歯科にて 見学&講習を受けてきました😆✨ . 韓国では人気の治療である【ミニッシュ】！ みなさん聞いたことはございますか？ 元々は修復の治療として使われていましたが 審美性の高さから、最近では審美性を目的として 受けられる方も多い治療です✨ . ミニッシュはミニッシュ歯科から認定を受けた 歯科医院でしかでき...

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Shoko’s interest in Minish deepened further through her visit to Korea in 2024. In 2024, she became the first Minish provider in the Osaka area, and to personally check the Minish system together with her clinic staff, she visited Minish Dental Hospital in Korea with 13 employees. They observed the Minish process firsthand and expressed their determination to build a similarly precise system in Japan.

It Felt Like I Was Being Rewarded for the Time I Had Put Off

After everything was finished, Director Shoko said she was reminded of the years she had put her own dental care on the back burner while staying busy with work and childcare.

“It felt like I was being rewarded for that time.”

She added that this experience would be an important opportunity to introduce Minish to patients in Japan, beyond her personal satisfaction.

“Not as a dentist, but as someone who experienced it firsthand, I now understand more clearly the sense of relief and satisfaction that patients feel. I want to vividly share with Japanese patients the experience of getting a natural-looking smile without anesthesia and without significant pain.”