Zenyum is a Singapore based company that has been operational in Singapore since September 2018, whereas Invisalign was the first aligner company to be established in Singapore many years back and is the most established aligner company in the market.
For other clear aligners systems or braces in general, orthodontic treatment starts with a physical consultation with an orthodontist or dentist of your choosing, and they will advise you on what system is suitable for you and the ideal treatment plan for your case after a clinical examination with the assistance of X-rays and other records.
To help you understand better, here is a summary of the Zenyum process:
- Customers fill out our survey to express their interest in Zenyum. They then send in pictures of their teeth to get pre-assessed by their council of dental experts.
- Once approved, they have an initial consultation session at their partner clinic. Here a physical assessment, 3D scan and X-rays of the customer's teeth are taken.
- After the scan, their council of licensed orthodontists and dentists determines if a customer is suitable for Zenyum Invisible Braces (clear aligners). If they qualify, customers will receive a treatment plan – a 3D stimulation of their smile transformation for approval.
- Once the patient reviews and approves the treatment plan, their braces go into production.
- Within 3 weeks they are called back into the clinic for fitting of their clear aligners.
- Patients are then monitored via the Zenyum app, where they upload a photo of their teeth every 5 days. This helps to ensure compliance and proper tracking of the aligners.
The main differences between Zenyum and Invisalign would be:
- For Zenyum, your case is monitored remotely via the Zenyum app most of the time, although in-person checks are possible as well. Invisalign patients have to be assessed in the clinic by their Invisalign certified orthodontists or dentists every few weeks.
- Not all cases are suitable for Zenyum, mainly more straight forward cases that do not require extractions and have less severe crowding of teeth. Hence, the treatment time is a lot shorter. Invisalign is able to treat a wide range of cases, depending on the experience of your general dentist or whether you're seeing an orthodontist (specialist). More complex treatments would take a longer time, hence a higher cost would be expected.
- Zenyum is a Singapore based company, hence there would be savings on laboratory, shipping and other such charges. The Invisalign labs are not based in Singapore, hence the turnaround time and lab fees are different.
- For Zenyum, your treatment is not supervised by an orthodontist or dentist of your choice. Each patient is matched with a treating doctor on their panel who monitors their progress for the entire duration of the treatment.
- The material used for both systems would probably be different as well, but in my opinion, this probably would not make much of a difference.
In any case, the key to success for treatment with any clear aligner system is case selection and patient compliance to wear the aligners very well.
