Zenyum is no stranger to many of us. The brand has made its way into the hearts of many by helping them achieve their desired dental health and aesthetics. With the amazing growth and achievements by the brand, we were curious to find out more about Zenyum. Hence, we were excited to sit down with Dr. Melissa, Zenyum Malaysia’s Partnership Manager, to find out her professional opinion and the keys to Zenyum’s success.

Dr Melissa earned a first-class degree in Bachelor of Dental Surgery from Vinayaka Objective University in India, and through her practise has built a strong patient portfolio with her mission to produce beautiful smiles via her work, which is something Zenyum greatly believes in as well. She is passionate about cosmetic dentistry and has taken multiple aligner courses to better understand the various orthodontic treatments. She now collaborates closely with Zenyum’s partner dentists to provide dental consultations to people considering Zenyum’s invisible braces. With her years of expertise, she would be able to offer dental and oral health care advice, as well as advise on how Zenyum’s clear aligners benefit consumers’ overall health.

Interview With Dr. Melissa

How was your journey like leading up to your position at Zenyum today?
My journey has been most exciting to say the least, starting off by completing my compulsory service with the Ministry of Health whereby I was given the honour to serve the people of Borneo.
Afterwards, I moved into the private sector whereby I worked in multiple dental clinics providing the best dental care available. Transitioning from the government into the private sector was a challenge given the demographic demands and how you must always be ready to offer all types of treatment. During my private practice, I also learnt to manage a brand new clinic from scratch, hence it required more than just dental knowledge. Instead, a business mindset came in parallel in order to brainstorm ways of driving a new business.
I have always had a knack for digital dentistry as I always would tagline myself as ‘ Dentist with an eye for digitalisation’. From private, I joined a telehealth startupwhich opened my eyes to other things than just my hands on skills in areas such as digital dentistry and business expansion . Today, working with Zenyum- I feel that the sky’s the limit for us and we won’t stop as we create more and more smiles in all the markets we have anchored.

In your professional opinion, what makes Zenyum different from other brands in the dental industry?
Firstly, we hold high standards for the services we provide and the dentists we work with. Our partner dentists are our on-ground experts at their respective clinics and they choose to work with us because they can attest to the high quality of our products.
We offer a free smile assessment which is available on our website and app. Each customers’ progress is also monitored once they begin treatment through regular submissions of teeth photos on the app. The app is a tool for our customers to monitor their treatment milestones, track their wear time and stay in touch with us if they need any assistance.
Thirdly, at Zenyum we make a conscious effort to balance affordability and convenience without sacrificing quality and safety. While we minimise dentist visits, we don’t skip them. We make the dentist consultation mandatory not only to personalise their treatment, but also to make sure they receive a full oral check-up and x-rays.
Once aligners are ready to be collected, we make sure customers are booked in for an-clinic fitting session with our dentists to learn how to wear and care for their aligners. During that fitting session, they would receive all their aligner sets so they can immediately begin their treatment, which saves them the multiple back-and-forth trips to the clinic. If the customer prefers to see the dentist in person for their review, we can also arrange that without additional charge.

Could you tell us 3 general dental tips that you would often advise your patients and why are they important for dental health?
One dental tip would be to avoid eating certain foods excessively such as:

Starchy foods, like soft bread & potato chips. It’s because it can get trapped between teeth easily. Without proper brushing, the remnants can lead to teeth decay easily.

Sticky candies & sweets, which are high in refined sugars. Bacteria inside the oral cavity love sugar which produces acid which then inevitably leads to tooth decay.

Carbonated drinks are also loaded with sugar. Most of them also contain citric acid & carbonic acid that will wear away tooth enamel, making it more susceptible to tooth decay.

Dried foods, such as dried jerky & dried fruits which will dry up your mouth easily. Saliva is our first defence against oral health issues, as they help to remove sugar residue and bad bacteria. As dried foods dehydrate your mouth, hence it weakens this basic defence which makes our teeth more prone to cavities.
Secondly, the strongest structure in the body is your enamel also known as your tooth crown. It can last a lifetime if proper care is advocated consistently. The rule of thumb is to practise good oral hygiene whereby brushing twice daily and flossing should be carried out to prevent any form of plaque accumulation, we have ZenyumSonic™ and ZenyumFresh™ products that provide you an effective clean. Apart from that, having a healthy eating habit with a moderate amount of sugary food and beverages intake, it doesn’t hurt to enjoy a good slice of cake but just practice moderation.
Do also make an appointment for a dental check-up preferably twice a year if not annually. This would tremendously give you a better outlook on your dental care as to how you can improvise or make changes to your habits as this may sound familiar – ‘better late than never’.

Currently, clear aligners have gotten a lot of interest, more so than traditional braces. What would you say sets Zenyum Clear Aligners apart from others?


We are able to make invisible braces affordable (up to 70% more affordable than other methods) by leveraging on the best tools which allows us to assign a dedicated executive to each customer to provide real-time support wherever and whenever. We also use top notch aligner materials and work with world-class suppliers because we believe in making fuss-free and invisible teeth straightening treatments of high standards accessible for everyone.
As you have already heard about our proprietary app and how we work with dentists, what truly sets us apart is the human touch. Even though it’s also easier to send a text, we know there is nothing more genuine than hearing the voice of our service rep or getting a professional opinion from our dentists.
Although we have a very robust program to design and customise your treatment plan, we believe that no amount of AI can replace the eye of a dentist to do the oral checks, the x-ray diagnosis and take impressions of your teeth. Because it is not one-size-fits-all, our smiles and teeth are all very different. Hence the hands-on intervention of our dentist is necessary to make sure the treatment is safely designed just for you.
This human-touch design will always be at the forefront of what we do, no matter how big we grow.

What is your core principle in your practice?
Ethics before everything. I always make sure to provide a treatment plan which gives an ideal predictable outcome as that is more important instead of merely following through with the demands of the patient. I believe that in the fast paced world of dentistry, the tendency to be swallowed by what is offered can be enticing but always remember, uphold the profession with dignity first and the rest will follow.

We are aware of your passion in aesthetic dentistry. What about it caught your interest?


The way invisible braces work is quite similar to metal braces, as both medical devices exert consistent pressure on your teeth to move them to the desired position through time. Of course invisible braces are a more attractive option because they don’t clutter your teeth, you can remove them anytime, and are more comfortable than metal braces too.
Once consumers understand the clear benefits (pun intended), they will naturally gravitate to invisible braces for their aesthetic and convenience. The invisible braces are virtually invisible, people would hardly notice you wearing them. And because you can remove them easily, they don’t get stained by food and it’s easy for you to brush your teeth too.
The traditional methods have been around much longer so we can empathise if consumers are not familiar with its more advanced cousin, invisible braces. Hence we give our consumers the option to chat or call our customer success executives, and they can hear for themselves about how our aligners work, what are the new lifestyle changes they can expect during their treatment – such as better oral hygiene!
Another plus point to choose invisible braces over metal braces is the 3D imaging of your treatment because it allows you to see the expected end results after completing treatment. Having the 3D imaging means our customers also have more autonomy in designing their dream smile, which is our goal! So our customers can suggest changes to the 3D treatment plan, until they are satisfied with it before making payment for the treatment.
And I cannot rave enough about our app. It’s the real convenience factor that allows our customers to take charge of their experience. Our app helps to cut down the number of medically not required reviews and dental visits! Usually our customers see the dentist 3x; first appointment for dental consultation, second appointment for aligners fitting, then the final review. They of course can see their dentist anytime in between, but most of the treatment can be tracked, monitored and answered on our app, which frees up our customers’ time.

What are your top 3 favourite products/services from Zenyum?


From our oral care solutions, the ZenyumSonic is significantly faster than the average electric toothbrush. The DuPont brush bristles are soft yet durable and the brush-head comes with a tongue cleaner for a fresher mouthful feeling, which makes our electric brush an efficient way to begin and complete your day. Rinse off with the ZenyumFresh Breath Shield which can cleanse your breath effectively – perfect for busy working parents. The ZenyumFresh toothpastes are SLS-free, which means you can jump right into your breakfast without that unpleasant aftertaste that comes with many over-the-counter toothpastes.
There you go, this is how Zenyum keeps your day moving and your smile shining all day!

In your daily oral routine, how do you implement Zenyum products?


Oral care creates valuable me-time , especially for parents. The ZenyumSonic has a built-in 2 minutes timer which is the dentist-recommended brush time, so you can enjoy the gentle massages of the soft Dupont bristles on your gums and teeth, while zoning out to your favourite tunes or podcasts. Even if it’s just for 2-minutes, I’m sure a lot of parents would appreciate those rare moments of peace.
And by investing in your oral health, you are starting and ending the day with a positive affirmation that you matter. It is important to be reminded of that daily, because it is easy to overlook our own needs as parents. So the least you can do is to invest in quality oral care essentials that maximise your brush time.
The ZenyumSonic brush vibrates at 33K per minute, it’s 10x faster than the average electric brush. And if you use it with the ZenyumFresh Day and Night toothpastes for whitening and repair, ZenyumFresh Breath Shield to reduce plaque build-up, and eco-friendly ZenyumFresh Floss to remove food bits, you’ll have the most complete oral care routine in under 15 minutes. This is the ultimate me-time ritual for every parent.

Could you explain the procedure of getting clear aligners at Zenyum?
We have a free online pre-assessment that gets you pre-checked before seeing our dentist. This free online assessment can help you to find out if ‘Zenyum suitable for me’.
You can do this for free at zenyum.com. Just answer a few questions about yourself and your teeth goals which takes less than a min. Most importantly it’s used to submit hi-res photos of your teeth, because that’s how our dentists can tell if we help you achieve your dream smile.
So not only are we making it more accessible with this free online assessment, we are also making it more convenient because you only need to see the dentist when we get you pre-checked.

What is a rare dental tip/hack that you could share with us?
Studies have also shown that there is a direct correlation between our oral health and our daily happiness. Because oral care has a direct effect on our gut health, the more healthy microbiomes you have with good brushing and flossing habits, you’ll experience more joy in a day and over time, a happier life too!