If I edit a DNS Zone in WHM although I'm using theplanet's nameservers; does the settings propogate to theplanet's dns or do I have to submit a ticket everytime I want a change in the zone?

if your using servermatrix nameservers then most likely you will have to open a ticket via orbit to get them to update your dns record for that domain. if this is the case also you can disable bind on your server.

editing dns zone in whm will do nothing