The Less You Take Away,the More Natural the Smile: Dr. Suwan Kim

Dr. Kim went to high school in Gwangju. During exam season, she says, she would spend fifteen hours a day at her desk.

“I wasn’t born with that kind of focus. As a kid, I had lots of passion but not much staying power. Even when my moods were up and down, I practiced just sitting down at my desk, and over time the focus followed. Once I’m deep in something for more than ten hours a day, the anxiety and the overconfidence both fall away, and what’s left is a kind of stillness.”

Q1.You got into medical school, too, but chose dentistry.

“In my senior year of high school, I applied to five medical schools and one dental school. Right up to the end, I was torn between dentistry at Seoul National University and medicine at Yonsei. Looking back, wherever I was and whatever I was doing, looking out for people and taking care of them is what suited me best.”

“Oddly enough, it wasn’t until this spring, after a medical volunteer trip, that I really understood why I became a dentist. Giving, it turns out, does more for the person who gives. I was swamped getting ready to open the clinic, but those few days felt like a real break.”

You can see that in the way she practices. On days when she’s preparing several veneers at once, Dr. Kim will spend three or four hours with a single patient.

Q2.Why spend so long with one person?

“Most of it I check and adjust myself: whether the edges of each restoration fit the tooth perfectly, whether it meets the neighboring teeth the way it should. Bonding really matters with veneers, so even on days when we’re seeing a lot of patients, I don’t hand off preparing the tooth surface to anyone else. I believe the result depends on how much care the person doing the procedure puts in.”

“Nothing in dentistry is ever 100 percent, but working toward 100 percent is what I find romantic about this job. It takes a lot out of you physically, though, so I cap the number of veneer cases I do in a day.”

Q3.What’s your first rule with veneers?

“Whenever I can, I take little or nothing off the tooth—what we call no-prep or minimal-prep veneers. The line I go by is the enamel, the hard outer layer of the tooth. If you stay within the enamel, the tooth won’t become sensitive, and the bond holds up longer. It’s also important to bond the veneer as soon as possible after shaping, so our in-house lab makes it right away.”

“That said, taking off less isn’t the goal in itself. I simulate the finished shape first, then shape only where it’s truly needed. If a tooth sticks out and you bond a veneer right over it, the veneer ends up bulky, the tooth looks too big, and plaque collects near the gums, which makes inflammation more likely.”

The last thing Dr. Kim wants is teeth that anyone can spot as veneers.

This summer, a patient came in bothered by one tooth beside their upper front teeth. The neighboring teeth had older veneers that could also have used replacing, but the patient wanted to get a little more wear out of them. So Dr. Kim remade just that one.

“We only changed one tooth, but the smile looks very different. I doubt anyone’s going to ask, ‘Did you get veneers?’ It’ll be more like, ‘Your smile looks great—I just can’t tell what’s different.’”

She applies the same standard to choosing a shade. If someone with naturally darker teeth gets a very bright, very thin veneer, the tooth underneath shows through and the color ends up somewhere awkwardly in between. So rather than the brightest whitening shade, she recommends a bright shade that stays close to natural teeth, and, drawing on her certification as a personal color consultant, she factors in skin tone and lip color, too. During the consultation, an AI smile simulation gives patients a preview of how they’ll look after treatment.

She refined these standards at two large cosmetic dental practices. Dr. Kim was head dentist at TU Dental Clinic, then launched the OBZERO Center at Seoul OB Dental Hospital and ran it as director for a year.

Q4.How does that experience show up in your clinic now?

“At OBZERO, it all went through me—not just the treatment but the signature color, the logo, the warranty cards and packaging, Instagram, the website, the interior design, even the case book. It was really a trial run for the cosmetic brand I wanted to build. Back then, a lot of patients came in asking for me specifically. The ones who were referred by someone make me proudest—and most nervous. I still feel that way.”

“These days I also lecture to dentists who are just starting to do veneers. Textbooks don’t go into much detail on no-prep and minimal-prep veneers, and the results are right there for the patient to see. That’s why you can’t go into it unprepared.”

Q5.Why did you decide to take over a 25-year-old clinic?

“When I left OB, a line from Saint-Exupéry came to mind: ‘What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well.’ I decided to head out into another desert. SU Dental Hospital is a cosmetic dental practice in Apgujeong that has seen a great many patients over the years, from celebrities to people from overseas. I inherited its long record of clinical cases, brought in new equipment and up-to-date clinical knowledge, and reopened it.”

“I didn’t go into this with ambitions of building a big hospital. I want it to be the kind of place I’d want to be treated at myself—a clinic people stay fond of for years. That’s why we filled the space with wood tones and play meditation music. When someone dozes off during whitening, I have to admit I feel a little proud.”

Under Dr. Kim, the new SU Dental Hospital began seeing patients on June 17, 2026.

Q6.You’re now four months in. How’s it going?

“I’m learning how to go to sleep with things still left undone. In school, I was used to finishing everything before bed. I’m also learning to ask for help. I’ve never been good at asking for favors, but opening a clinic isn’t something you can do alone.”

“If anything, the time I spend treating patients feels like my break. Veneers are my focus, but over the last three months I’ve done far more general dentistry. I’ve worked hard to save teeth that would usually be pulled, and I’ve been cautious about starting root canals. Even on hard days, one patient telling me they landed a job after getting veneers is enough to keep me going for a week.”

Q7.How do you open a consultation?

“Instead of asking, ‘How many veneers would you like?’ I ask, ‘When you smile, what bothers you most?’ Some people come in for a veneer consultation and go home having heard, ‘I don’t think you need them.’ For some, whitening is enough. Some just need a small gap filled with resin, and others need orthodontic work or gum treatment first.”

“We don’t have a treatment coordinator yet, so apart from going over costs, I handle every consultation myself. Each one is tailored to the individual, and then our lab director and I make and place the veneers to suit that person’s taste.”

Q8.A lot of people put off treatment because they’re afraid of the dentist.

“Far more than you’d think. So we take anesthesia in steps: a numbing rinse, then a numbing gel, then a painless injection. Patients who are very anxious can be treated under conscious sedation, which keeps you relaxed but awake. Every treatment room is private, so you don’t have to worry about other people seeing you. For international patients, we also offer consultations with an interpreter.”

Q9.Tell us about the people you work with.

“Implants and gum surgery are handled by a board-certified specialist who trained in oral surgery at Seoul National University. We were interns together, and they’re my closest friend. Their stitching is really clean, so patients recover quickly. With veneers, a lot rides on our lab director. Making a veneer blend in with the teeth around it takes real craftsmanship and a good eye for color.”

“If there’s something worth learning, I’ll leave the clinic even on a weekday. This summer I went to a seminar by Dr. Ricardo Kern, who’s well known for gum reconstruction surgery. A lot of people assume receded gums can’t be brought back, but with careful case selection, surgery such as a connective tissue graft can restore them.”

Outside the clinic, Dr. Kim is known as “the dentist who works out.” On her days off she goes hiking.

Q10.How do you spend your time outside the clinic?

“My Instagram, @dr.suwan_, actually started out as my workout log. On my days off, I mostly go hiking. Since I started sticking to two things—getting to bed before midnight, and working out until I’m out of breath and sweating—I’ve stopped catching the colds I always used to have, and my head feels clearer. I think caring for your mind starts with caring for your body.”

Q11.What would you like to say to anyone considering SU Dental Hospital?

“Coming in for a consultation doesn’t mean you have to go ahead with treatment. Hear everything out, ask whatever you want to know, and start once you’ve made up your mind—that won’t be too late. The dentist who starts your treatment will personally see it through to the end, and look after you beyond that.”