Meet Dr. Young Kyu Kim: The Implant Dentist Who Spent 18 Years Building Teeth by Hand

Smile Maker of Texas · 6201 Dallas Pkwy, Suite 220, Plano, TX 75024 · Serving Plano, Dallas, Frisco, Richardson and the wider DFW metroplex.

When I went looking for an implant dentist to join this practice, I wasn’t looking for the fastest surgeon or the biggest case count. I was looking for someone who understood what the porcelain on top of an implant has to do.

Most dentists learn ceramics from the outside. We take an impression, send it to a laboratory, and a crown comes back in a box. Dr. Kim spent eighteen years on the other side of that box. He was the one at the bench layering porcelain, matching shades by eye and shaping the edge where a tooth meets the gum.

That’s rare in an implant surgeon, and it’s the reason I asked him to come to Plano. You can read his full background on Dr. Kim’s bio page.

Eighteen years at the bench

Dr. Kim trained at the Osaka Dental Ceramic School in Japan, then worked in dental laboratories in New York City and Weston, Massachusetts. A ceramist’s job is the part of dentistry patients actually see: the color that changes from the gumline to the biting edge, the slight translucency at the tip of a front tooth, the contour that catches light the way natural enamel does.

He went on to earn his DMD at the University of Kentucky and completed the Hiossen Master Course in implant surgery and full-mouth reconstruction. So he has built the restorations he now designs, places and finishes himself.

Why a ceramist makes a better implant dentist

An implant is only the root. What you smile with is the crown or bridge on top of it, and how good that crown can look is decided the day the implant goes in. Put the implant a few millimeters off and the best porcelain in the world has to compensate.

Dr. Kim plans implants backward from the tooth he wants to see at the end. That shows up in four places:

• Position. The implant is placed where the final tooth needs it, not just where the bone happens to be easiest.
• The gumline. How the crown comes out of the gum is what makes an implant tooth look natural, and it starts with implant depth and angle.
• Shade and shape. He knows what a lab can and can’t achieve, so he plans cases the porcelain can actually deliver.
• Bite. A crown that looks right but hits wrong won’t last. Ceramists spend their careers on that balance.

What he does here

Dr. Kim runs implant surgery and full-mouth reconstruction in our Implant Treatment Center, including single dental implants, implant-supported dentures and All-on-X full-arch treatment. He plans each case on our R2 Studio Q 3D CBCT scanner, which maps bone, nerves and sinuses before treatment begins. We wrote about how that works in The 16-Second Scan That Changed How We Plan Implants.

He and I work as a pair. He plans the foundation, and I design what sits on it — the length, shape and shade of the teeth, and how they support the lips — the same way I design a SmileLift™. On a full-mouth case we look at the same scan and the same photographs, in the same building.

The implant system he chose

Dr. Kim places MegaGen implants. MegaGen is a South Korean implant system with more than 25 years of clinical results. Working with one system he knows deeply means the planning software, surgical components and restorative parts all fit together the way he expects.

Meeting him

If you’ve been told you need an implant, or you’ve been putting off replacing a missing tooth, a consultation with Dr. Kim is complimentary and includes a 3D scan. You’ll leave knowing what your options are and what each one costs.

And if you’re more comfortable discussing treatment in Korean or Japanese, you can. Just mention it when you call, or request an appointment online.

Dr. Ritchie Beougher, DDS

Founder of Smile Maker of Texas and creator of the SmileLift™. An award-winning portrait artist before he became a dentist, he completed his residency in the US Navy and the Master’s Program at the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies, and has taught cosmetic dentistry at the Rosenthal Institute in New York and Aesthetic Advantage in Palm Beach.

This article is for general information and is not a substitute for an in-person examination or individual dental advice. Implant treatment is recommended case by case, and outcomes vary between individuals.