The OPTISMILE Podcast 44 – Invisalign Clear Aligners for Professional Mariners: Confidence Without Compromise
Summary
Introduction (00:00 – 00:53)
Dr Clifford Yudelman introduces Invisalign as the perfect dental solution for yacht crew members, focusing on how it seamlessly fits their professional lifestyle. With over 40 years of dental experience, Dr Yudelman shares insights specifically for those navigating the unique challenges of life at sea.
Why Invisalign Fits Mariner’s Lifestyles (00:54 – 05:36)
Invisalign offers yachties a discreet and hassle-free alternative to traditional braces. Dr Yudelman from OptiSmile Invisalign Providers in Sea Point Cape Town, explains how clear aligners provide a professional appearance, crucial for crew members interacting with guests. With minimal maintenance and fewer in-person visits, Invisalign is the ideal choice for crew members working long contracts or in remote locations.
Practical Tips for Yacht Crew (05:37 – 10:08)
Learn how to maintain your Invisalign aligners in shared quarters, prevent loss during busy charters, and keep your oral hygiene in check. Dr Yudelman provides practical, real-life tips tailored to the unique living conditions of yacht crew members.
Remote Check-Ups and Technology (10:09 – 15:04)
Dr Yudelman highlights the benefits of using the Invisalign Virtual Care app for remote monitoring. This advanced technology allows OptiSmile to support yacht crew members across the globe, ensuring consistent progress even during international travels.
Supportive Environments and Budgeting (15:05 – 21:10)
A supportive crew environment can make a significant difference in maintaining Invisalign aligners. Dr Yudelman also discusses flexible payment options tailored to the unique financial planning of yacht crew, ensuring Invisalign is accessible for those working in the yachting industry.
Planning Aligner Changes Around Schedules (21:11 – 23:21)
For yachties with unpredictable schedules, OptiSmile creates customised treatment plans. Dr Yudelman explains how to plan aligner changes around contracts and off-seasons, ensuring uninterrupted progress wherever your yacht takes you.
Conclusion and Call to Action (23:22 – 25:18)
Invisalign’s benefits for yacht crew extend beyond aesthetics, boosting confidence and professionalism. Dr Yudelman invites listeners to explore tailored Invisalign solutions at OptiSmile. Whether you’re in Cape Town or navigating the seas, OptiSmile ensures you’re never far from expert care.
Full Transcript
Eon Engelbrecht – E-Radio-SA: (0:04 – 0:53)
Welcome back to Save Your Money, Save Your Teeth, the go-to podcast where curiosity meets dentistry straight from the experts. Our expert is ready, Dr. Clifford Yudelman from OptiSmile, to help us take a deep dive into the world of dental care from a consumer’s perspective. If you’re looking to brighten your smile or simply protect your wallet, we’ve got you covered with this podcast featuring practical advice and the latest insights.
Stick around, we uncover the secrets to maintaining both your dental health and your finances. We’re still on the topic of dental care tips and advice for where yachties, that’s people living, working on board, and today tackling Invisalign for yachties, the perfect fit. Welcome back, Dr. Yudelman.
Dr Clifford Yudelman – OptiSmile: (0:54 – 2:37)
Thanks, Eon. Great to speak to you. I’ve got a good week and after last week’s podcast, we got a lot of interest from people who just doing their certifications and looking to go for their first season coming up, working on board a yacht.
And so we hope that our maintenance episode last week helped even more people. Be sure to share it with other yachties, share it on all your Facebook groups. There’s some Facebook groups, one of them only started three years ago, and it’s the SAFA yachties or South African yachties, and it’s got over 15,000 members.
And this is just for South African yachties. Isn’t that amazing the number of people from South Africa that seem to be working on yachts? The one yacht training company that I spoke to, a very friendly lady, I’ll put information in the notes and the transcript, but in the last 12 months, they’ve trained over a thousand people and certified them.
That’s just one business. And in Cape Town, there must be at least eight or 10, if you Google yacht or super yacht academy, yacht training, there’s a whole bunch of them. And so there are thousands upon thousands of people working on yachts from South Africa.
So, hopefully, this podcast helps those people.
Eon Engelbrecht – E-Radio-SA: (2:38 – 2:51)
Absolutely. Now, Dr. Yudelman, tell me, what first drew you to recommend Invisalign for yachties specifically, and how does this solution fit their on-the-go lifestyle better than traditional braces?
Dr Clifford Yudelman – OptiSmile: (2:52 – 5:36)
Yeah, so Invisalign, we’ve spoken about it before. It’s a clear aligners, they’re very discreet, so you can hardly see them when they’re in, it doesn’t affect your speech. It’s perfect when you’re dealing with guests face to face.
A lot of people get into the yachty world straight from school, straight out of university. Some of them we’ve met have got degrees in psychology or engineering or chemistry or some other degree, and they decided to work on the yachts just to make a bit of money. And now two, three years later, they’re still working on the yachts because they love the lifestyle, and they’re saving up money to buy a house or an apartment.
And now they’ve got the money to straighten their teeth, but braces are not an option because you’re having to deal with guests face to face. The other thing with braces, with Invisalign, you don’t have to worry about broken wires or brackets in the middle of a charter. You’ve got your aligners, as long as you don’t lose them and you wear them as instructed.
They work beautifully and they’re simpler. There’s fewer in-person visits, which is a huge plus because yachties can stay a lot longer. They use the Invisalign virtual care app where we can track them with virtual care with a special app and just occasional visits.
I saw a few yachties now in December. We saw them, we did video consults with them. They came in the beginning of December, we scanned them, we ordered their aligners.
They went to stay with their family, not all of them from Cape Town, but they came here especially. They came back a couple of weeks later and we gave them all their aligners. In both cases, the two that I’m thinking of, there was 14 aligners.
We put their attachments on. If you go back to the Invisalign podcast, we talk about attachments, a little bit of IPR, and we’re going to monitor them. The one in particular, in about 10 weeks time, she’ll need to go to a colleague in Greece to get a little bit of maintenance done, what’s called IPR.
It’s easy to pop the aligners out for special events or important functions and keep that personal appearance intact. Everywhere from a deckhand to all the way up to a captain or a head chef, anybody working in the kitchen, everybody does speak to guests. Invisalign would help anybody on board.
A lot of the treatment is only 14 to 20 weeks and it can be done during one season.
Eon Engelbrecht – E-Radio-SA: (5:37 – 5:52)
Why might a chief stew or bosun who’s constantly interacting with high-profile guests find Invisalign especially appealing when it comes to maintaining a polished and professional look?
Dr Clifford Yudelman – OptiSmile: (5:52 – 6:37)
Like I said, the guests won’t notice you wearing them when you’re serving them or any guest interactions. There’s none of that awkward metal laughing when you smile or speak, which is great for those official ERT photos that they do. As I said, you can remove them briefly for a special dinner event or if you need to do a quick tasting without the risk of food getting stuck in the braces.
Overall, just a sense of confidence, which naturally boosts your presence with guests, especially as the treatment progresses. If you’ve got a 14-week treatment, after six, eight weeks, your teeth are already looking much better.
Eon Engelbrecht – E-Radio-SA: (6:38 – 6:49)
From your experience, how do yacht crew manage their aligners effectively on board, especially in those cramped crew quarters or the shared bathrooms?
Dr Clifford Yudelman – OptiSmile: (6:50 – 8:12)
Yeah, so keeping a labelled aligner case is key. You must make sure you’ve got your name on there. We put the patient’s name on their aligner case.
If you’re the only one on the yacht that’s wearing aligners, I think your fellow crew members will look out for you. But if you put them in a napkin, they will get caught accidentally and you don’t want to be going through the garbage looking for them. There are things you can do if you use an aligner.
Sometimes you can go back to the previous one, which we always recommend you keep, but often you’ll just skip forward to the next one. A quick rinse with lukewarm water right after you take them out helps keep them clean. You don’t have to do a toothbrush every time you take them in and out.
A lot of crew I’ve spoken to keep a small little Invisalign pouch with a travel toothbrush and some cleaning crystals or tablets, which are easy to use. It helps to establish a routine. You’ve got to wear them all the time.
You take them out only when necessary to eat or to brush your teeth, and you pop them back as soon as you can. In your mouth, you won’t lose them. That way they work.
You’ve got to wear them at least; ideally, you’re looking for 21, 22 hours a day.
Eon Engelbrecht – E-Radio-SA: (8:13 – 8:27)
If a yachty misplaces their aligners during, let’s say, a hectic chart or rough seas, what immediate steps do you advise them to take? Also, how can they prepare ahead of time?
Dr Clifford Yudelman – OptiSmile: (8:28 – 10:08)
It always helps to retrace your steps right away. Sometimes they’ve just been wrapped in a tissue and tossed. Generally, the tissues and so on will be tossed in a particular place and the food waste in another place.
Maybe it won’t be too unpleasant looking for them. If you really can’t find them, you can contact me if I’m your Invisalign provider so we can arrange a replacement or advise you. Like I’ve said, a replacement aligner is a bit of a hassle, especially if you’re in the south of France or in Italy and we’re all the way here.
It can take a couple of weeks to get. Generally, if you lose all your aligners but you still have your previous aligner, you can just wear the previous one. Say you’re number 10 and it gets lost, you can wear number 9, just keep it in a holding pattern.
Generally, if you’ve been wearing number 10 for say three or four days and you’re on a seven-day change and you’ve got number 11 and you’ve lost number 10, if you swap to number 11, it’ll just be a little bit tight for the first day or two, but it won’t affect your treatment too much. You just wear it for a bit longer. So that’s a few tips right there.
Like we say, keep your older aligners somewhere safe, like the bottom of your kit, as a fallback. Planning ahead, you’ve got a backup plan, so you don’t want to lose your alignment progress if something does go wrong.
Eon Engelbrecht – E-Radio-SA: (10:09 – 10:21)
And how do you address concerns about keeping aligners clean in these tight living conditions? Any specific routines that you recommend for the yacht crew?
Dr Clifford Yudelman – OptiSmile: (10:21 – 12:13)
Yeah, so you could just literally slip them out of your… Sorry, if you’ve eaten, you have a quick rinse, you can even drink your sparkling water, your Pellegrino. Not in front of anyone, just turn around, face somewhere, just rinse your mouth, you can even swallow.
It’s only food that’s in there. Chew some gum for a few minutes. And once you’ve rinsed your mouth, you can just put the aligners straight back in.
It’s really not a hassle. You’re not going to build up a lot of plaque there. You don’t have to go and brush and floss.
It’s not a big deal. It’s not like braces where there’s all kinds of stuff stuck in there. You can use a small toothbrush or soft brush with mild soap to clean or some aligner foam to clean your aligners.
Toothpaste can scratch the aligners. You can change them weekly or every 10 days. It’s not really a big deal.
With genuine Invisalign, you are changing them every 7 to 10 days in most cases. You want to keep it in more of a cloth bag, a well-ventilated bag instead of a sealed bag. If you seal it in a Ziploc or something that’s completely airtight, it can start smelling funky.
And you should have a consistent pattern. You remove them, you store them, you rinse your mouth, you put them back in, and it fits easily into a yachty life. The people working on yachts are very good with this type of stuff.
They’re very technical, they’re very intelligent, very social. We just love having yachties at OptiSmile. We seem to become the place for yachties.
People are giving us reviews and we’re getting more and more yachties every season.
Eon Engelbrecht – E-Radio-SA: (12:13 – 12:26)
Is it possible for yachties to do most of their Invisalign checkups remotely, especially if they’re sailing, let’s say, around Europe? How does that process work there at OptiSmile?
Dr Clifford Yudelman – OptiSmile: (12:27 – 15:04)
Yes, absolutely. There are five Invisalign providers at OptiSmile. So depending on where you see your provider, Dr. Harris, Dr. Kiera, Dr. Cara, Dr Ruan, myself you’ll have our personal WhatsApp number. There’s the Invisalign virtual care app for every week when you’re ready to change your liners. There’s a little retractor and app and you take photos with your aligners in and with your aligners out. It uses AI.
We’re available for WhatsApp calls and video calls if there is an issue. We’ll try to email, and we’ll say WhatsApp is usually the easiest. There’s an office WhatsApp number.
The virtual care with a built-in AI works really well. You’ll typically have a schedule for switching to the next set of aligners and we can track that on the app that you’re changing it regularly. Most people are very good with that.
We arrange ahead of time an in-person visit when you’re in Cape Town, either in between contracts or when you’re off-season and we’ll time your treatment accordingly. Obviously, if you live around the corner and you’re coming in every month, things can be a little bit simpler but sometimes life isn’t always that simple. You might have to wear your liners.
If you’ve got 14 aligners and you’re only coming back in 18 weeks, you might wear your liners each one a little bit longer. Instead of being done in 14 weeks, you’ll be back or you’ll be done in 18 weeks or so. There’s a little bit of planning there.
The combination of technology and in-person visits keeps your treatment moving smoothly no matter which port you’re in. Going and seeing a dentist, another dentist, another Invisalign provider in another country, unless it’s some type of emergency which doesn’t really occur. You’ve got these attachments on your teeth.
You might have little white bumps that we bond onto your teeth and if you’ve got three or four in each quarter, each quadrant of your mouth, if one comes off, it’s not usually a big deal. If you’re in town, we replace them for you within a week or two. It’s not an emergency.
If you’re away and one comes off, we may send you to another dentist somewhere to get it replaced but it’s usually not a problem. It works really, really well.
Eon Engelbrecht – E-Radio-SA: (15:04 – 15:17)
What role can captains or department heads play in supporting a crew member’s Invisalign journey so it doesn’t interfere with the daily operations?
Dr Clifford Yudelman – OptiSmile: (15:18 – 16:49)
We mentioned last week that the captain or the person in charge of the crew, that could be the bosun or the chief stew, they can build in small breaks after meals so all the crew have a chance to brush and clean their teeth. If you’re the one wearing Invisalign or there’s a few of you, that will go a long way to helping you be more confident in front of the guests. Encourage an open conversation about health.
If someone doesn’t feel awkward about needing a few minutes to look after their aligners, after all they’re doing aligners, they straighten their teeth so they can serve the industry and their guests better so they can be more confident, so they can smile and laugh more and just generally be happier. So if they’re with you for further seasons and they’ve got nice straight teeth next season, you’ll see a big change in their demeanour. We see a lot of personality changes when people regain and find their confidence; it’s quite amazing.
The supportive environment means fewer lost aligners; it lets rush, and keeps everyone focused on top-quality guest service. When senior staff sets a positive tone, it normalises taking care of one’s health, and that includes aligners.
Eon Engelbrecht – E-Radio-SA: (16:50 – 17:04)
Okay, so also doctor, yacht menus can be rich and varied. Any particular foods or drinks that pose a risk for staining aligners and how should the crew members handle that?
Dr Clifford Yudelman – OptiSmile: (17:04 – 18:27)
Yeah, so when you’ve got aligners in, you can pretty much drink anything as long as it doesn’t have a lot of colour in. So obviously coffee is out, red wine is out or black tea. You can drink cocktails; you can drink, I don’t think, you know unless you’re the captain and you’re having a captain’s dinner.
I don’t think the crew drink too much alcohol when they’re with the guest, but depending on your rank or your level. Stick to a martini or a beer or something like that, don’t drink red wine. If you’re drinking red wine, it usually would be with a meal, so your aligners would be out.
If you’re in the kitchen, you don’t go tasting tomato sauce or tomato-based sauces or curries, especially curries, the tumeric and all that can stain your aligners and your teeth look yellow for the rest of that week. If you’re tasting foods, always rinse your mouth and the aligners before inserting them. If you’ve been eating anything that could stain, and to give up your favourite meal, just have a quick rinse and pop your aligners back in.
Eon Engelbrecht – E-Radio-SA: (18:28 – 18:40)
And then in terms of budgeting, how can yachties fit Invisalign into their lifestyle, considering they might be paid differently or have varying contract lengths?
Dr Clifford Yudelman – OptiSmile: (18:41 – 21:10)
Yeah, so and obviously we’ve got a number of different payment plans. The one that seems to be the most popular is a 15% discount for payment upfront, which makes life easier for everyone. Don’t have to worry about debit orders or payment plans off of one’s credit card.
For patients that don’t live in Cape Town or don’t have a fixed address, that would be the only option that we’d offer. But for people who grew up here, their parents live here and they based here, we offer our general other plans, which is over three payments, six payments or 12 payments, depending on how many aligners you need. We also have something called Float.
We’ve got a number of different ways to help people afford Invisalign. The one thing we found here on the yachties, after one season or two seasons, they seem to have a fair amount of money when it comes to brands. A lot of the yachties, we give them an estimate to how much Invisalign is going to cost them, and they often seem very surprised.
They say to us, oh, I thought it would be a lot more. And they seem quite happy with the cost. I think some of them are earning really nice tips or getting great salaries.
Invisalign works amazingly well if people obviously can afford it, because it’s not cheap. We have spoken about that before. For a lot of people, they put aside some of their monthly earnings, especially for health, and Invisalign can be part of that.
I believe when you’re working on the yachts, it’s not a lot you can spend your money on. You get all your meals, all your health care, everything is taken care of. We like to talk to people up front and be up front about it.
We don’t like people to strain their budget. Like I said earlier, many yacht crews see it as an investment in their career, in their image, in their personal confidence, and it ultimately pays off in these basic roles. It’s not like buying a car.
If you’re working on a yacht, some fancy car isn’t going to really help you very much. You’re getting a nice smile and confidence, and that really goes a long way at sea.
Eon Engelbrecht – E-Radio-SA: (21:11 – 21:31)
Just our final question for today, Doctor. When crew members come in for off-season or between contracts, what sort of timeline do you set up for their aligner changes so that they can keep moving forward, even if they’re still out at sea?
Dr Clifford Yudelman – OptiSmile: (21:31 – 23:21)
We’ll always give you enough aligners to last until your next trip, until you’re coming back, with clear instructions on when to switch them. We keep in touch on WhatsApp and on the virtual care. We can schedule remote check-ins accordingly, like I mentioned, and if you have a longer-streak home base.
In other words, if you say you haven’t started in Invisalign and you’re coming back and you come and see us, you do a video consult ahead of time, you come and see us as soon as you land in South Africa, we scan you, we give you a quote, we organise finances for financial arrangements for you, and we order them right away. You can get your aligners back in two weeks in most cases, and we’ll put your attachments and do your IPR at your first visit when we give you your first fit of your first aligner. In a lot of cases, if you’re living locally, we’ll give you the first two without any attachments and without IPR.
This way, we adapt the treatment plan especially for you, and make sure that any IPR is done early in the treatment plan whenever possible. We have some patients, we’re able to adapt for say three months before they go back, and some of them can be already halfway through their treatment by the time they leave, and we’ll see them a few times during their visits. Everything is tailored to your specific itinerary or your specific plans or contracts, and yeah, we can vary the treatment accordingly, and yeah, we can keep track of your progress wherever you drop anchor.
Eon Engelbrecht – E-Radio-SA: (23:22 – 23:32)
Awesome, and that’s another interesting episode of Save Your Money, Save Your Teeth with Dr. Clifford Yudelman from OptiSmile. Thanks so much, doctor.
Dr Clifford Yudelman – OptiSmile: (23:32 – 23:53)
Thank you, appreciate it, and I’m looking forward to speaking to you next week. Episode three will be our last one for Yachties, talking about emergency dental care and long-term solutions for Yachties. So, have a great week, and we’ll speak to you next week.
Eon Engelbrecht – E-Radio-SA: (23:54 – 24:26)
Looking forward to it. Thanks so much, doctor. Also, remember to our listeners, while we strive to provide valuable insights with these podcasts, always consult with your own dental professional for advice tailored to your personal health.
Don’t forget to subscribe, share these podcasts, and join us again for more enlightening discussions next week as we continue to explore the fascinating intersection of dental health and financial savvy. Until then, keep smiling and taking great care of your teeth.
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Disclaimer: The content provided in this podcast, “Save Your Money Save Your Teeth” on Medical Mondays, is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to serve as dental or medical advice. The insights and opinions expressed by Dr. Clifford Yudelman and any guests are designed to foster a better understanding of dental health, preventive measures, and general well-being, but should not be interpreted as professional dental or medical recommendations. Dr. Clifford Yudelman does not diagnose, treat, or offer prevention strategies for any health conditions directly through this podcast. This platform is not a substitute for the personalized care and advice provided by a licensed dental or healthcare professional. We strongly encourage our listeners to consult with their own dental care providers to address individual dental health needs and concerns. The information shared here aims to empower listeners with knowledge about dental health but must not be used as a basis for making health-related decisions without professional guidance. Your dental care provider is the best source of advice about your dental and overall health. Please always seek the advice of your dentist or other qualified health professionals regarding any questions or concerns about your dental health.