Comments on: Dental Hygienists Are Paid about $36 an Hour: Survey Results

By: anonymous

anonymous — Thu, 12 May 2011 02:10:00 +0000

If Hygienists are such a problem, why don’t they QUIT whining and get rid of US ALL. I am sick of these egotistical employers saying we are not worth what we are paid. My boss makes about $120,000 plus PROFIT off each of his three hygienists. Dentists treat us TERRIBLY. This job is very stressful. I would bet a year’s salary an assistant couldn’t do a week of hygiene. They’ve never done a quad scale and don’t have a clue what we are about. I am sorry I EVER went into this and can promise you if you go into it, you will regret it, too. Go ahead and prove me wrong. You will regret it. I work hard and my patients love me. That is the only salvation in my job. I have never felt more subhuman than my years as a hygienist. I am glad for these forums so the truth can come out! Dentists are MONSTERS. GET RID OF us if we are not worth it. They love the money we make for them & they resent us because they want to keep it all for themselves. And another thing; most of THEIR work is substandard!!!!! I am constantly seeing new fillings that still have decay under them where the doctor did not take the time to do it right. THEY ARE NOT worth what they are paid. DENTAL HYGIENE profession SUCKS…………

By: Fosterfelicia

Fosterfelicia — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 05:07:00 +0000

By the way doc, the hygienist also helps the dentist. Does she not clean your patients teeth, take xrays, sell your treatment plan and other procedures (i.e. antimicrobials), break down, and set up her own op, help with sterilization, do your anesthetic, set up her own trays, greet your patients, do intra and extra oral exams and alert you of her findings, read xrays and inform you of her findings. If you can find an assistant to do all of that, you are a magician. I think a good hygienist does as much and sometimes more than the assistant. If every RDH you know is a prima donna it probably because you are difficult to work for. Let me guess, you have that dentist complex right? The energy you are giving off is what is coming back to you. Look in the mirror.

By: jlpw

jlpw — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:05:00 +0000

I don’t know about Alabama now, but they used to “train” their own hygienists! How many of you dentists have time to give the proper education, instruction on instrumentation and inspection afterward? I can tell you. NONE!! You barely check what we “over qualified” hygienists have done and unless we tell you where the decay is, it is overlooked! I have tested many a dentist to see if they find what I have found. They depend on us to find the decay, sell the crowns, treat the disease, and make sure the patient is happy! I have been in practice for over 30 years, if I tell the pt they need a crown, they do it! They know I have their best interest at heart. I educate them about the disease process and every day I hear ” nobody ever told me that before”. I love what I do and feel like I am performing a social service. If we don’t do our job well, the dentist will have no teeth to restore! I have cleaned behind dentists that do their own prophies and what a disappointment they were. Calculus everywhere. My dentist pays me $100.00 an hour. And yes, he thinks I am worth every penny. He said he just wanted someone to take care of his patients and didn’t want to worry about them. I do a lot of RP&C so I guess I pay for myself but so many patients need it and are not getting the proper diagnosis. There are a lot of lazy hygienists. They burn me up. I have had to clean up many a practice because of them but again, it goes back to the dentist not checking behind them. When you see radiographic calculus year after year on the same patient it is time to let her go! There are plenty of good and conscientious hygienist out there. You are going to pay for them though!

By: Brad

Brad — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 20:15:00 +0000

Sounds to me like you are a really poor judge of character and maybe you need help with basic business and marketing. If this prima dona works for you, shame on you, you hired her.

By: Brad

Brad — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 20:12:00 +0000

Unfortunately, the instructors at most dental schools instill the idea that all dental hygienists are over-paid prima donas. The truth is, there are bad apples everywhere. I’ve worked with dentists who would have an assistant drive all the way to the office to take an x-ray for them. I have worked with assistants who sat on the counter reading magazines with 5 patients in the waiting room. I have worked with front desk personnel who were more interested in reading email than checking out a patient. I have also worked with hygieniststhat felt it was not there job to sterilize instruments.
All I know is I am required to produce $2000/day and my pay is $320/day. You do the math! Any dentist who claims hygienists don’t produce should talk to the independent hygiene practitioners in Colorado.

By: Rjcookdds

Rjcookdds — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 21:19:00 +0000

I doubt you went to school for 8 years to become a hygienist. I also doubt you do 3 to 4 times more work than an assistant who also helps the dentist with production. Every RDH I know is a prima donna – even the ones who pretend to not be. I just had one tell me she wants a raise instead of having to work harder to produce more or “sell” anything.

By: ricky

ricky — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 16:03:00 +0000

Thank you for this clear instruction! Nowadays more and more people start to use this platform, so it is improbably important to know how to change the database and so on. I was reading your article, like it is an interesting essay about technical characteristics. CNG

By: RDH

RDH — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 15:39:00 +0000

How can dentist think hygienist are overpaid. We are doing all of the work as far as scaling, x-rays and prophys yet they get most of the money. The girl that does my hair gets to keep the money she earns and pays 125.00 a week to use the chair which she easily makes back in an hour. Hygienist do the work and only makes 30 bucks in an hour and they are bringing in way more not to mention all the work coming out of their room that the dentist gets. They are greedy and the more they make the more they want. All I can afford on my hygienist salary is rent, food and gas in my 10 year old car so I really don’t think hygienist are over paid. I’d like to see a dentist try and make it on our salary.

By: felicia foster

felicia foster — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 07:03:28 +0000

Dentist who complain that hygienist are paid too much is because they don’t understand what we do and how to utilize their hygienist. If they are milking the clock, that is a scheduling issue and not a hygiene issue. Could it be that the hygienist appears lazy because dentist don’t want their hygienist on the clock if they don’t have a patient? Would you (dentist) clock out from a company you work for and still work for free? Hygienist are health care professionals. You also pay for what we know. The same Anatomy, radiology, pharmacology, nutrition, pathology, etc that you guys took we had to take also. Same pre-reqs as nurses. I don’t hear MD say about nurses what dentist say about hygienist. There are very few dentist that can scale like a good hygienist. I have watched you all check our work. Most of you just check superficially to see if it is clean. I guess the same way you feel about the amount of money your staff makes is the same way patients feel about what dentist make. If your staff is goofing off and you feel they are overpaid, it might be a reflection of your treat of your staff. you get what you dish out

By: Ronnie

Ronnie — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 05:45:18 +0000

I am offended at the lack of respect some dentists seem to have for their hygienists. I have been reading posts on different websites, and some dentists have nothing but negative things to say about hygienists in general. I do not think hygienists are overpaid. Hygiene school is very demanding and very expensive! It takes at least 3-4 years to get a degree in DH, and I live in WA state and there are 4 board exams you must take to be licensed. You jump through lots of hoops, and invest alot of money, to become a dental hygienist. I make 33-36 per hour. I have to work at several offices to have 4 days a week, I get no benefits, vacation, sick pay, holiday pay… NOTHING, because I am a part-time employee at all of my offices. The offices where I work all the hygienists seem to work hard, and I feel that I work my tail off! I see my patients, and do everything I can to help in other parts of the office when I have time. I clean up operatories, sterilize instruments, I seat the doctor’s patients, anwser phones and etc. In a few offices, and one in particular the “slackers” are the assistants and front office. This is pretty outrageous, but in one of the offices the front office girls play on Facebook, text friends, and watch You Tube videos ALL DAY! I am not kidding! If the schedule falls apart, they don’t care to try to fill it! I even had several times where I was double booked because someone forget to put the patients name in the computer when they called for an appt. (Too busy on Facebook??) The assistants walk around, texting like they have no where to be. Here I am sweating, and rushing around trying to get things done, and I can hear the front office girls laughing and carrying on, I see the dental assistants shuffling slowly by the hygiene room, texting. I really makes me mad. I have worked at this particular office for 2 years now without a raise, however I heard a rumor that the front office girls got raises last year! WHAT! One of the assistants who only has 2 years of experience, told me she makes $17.00 per hour. I would say that she is overpaid for what little she does!!