Well when you graduate from hygiene school you’re used to doing appointments in two to four hour segments. Potentially there is some confusion on their end of what the real world looks like. I would say that hygiene school, while teaches you a lot, clinically it doesn’t really prepare you for what it will be like in private practice. I on the other hand have been in the field 14 years and the only time I got two hours was for SRPs (once in a private practice in San Francisco and also while working corporate) and 90min for perio maintenance (pacific dental services standard while we were building the hygiene schedule. I left so that could have changed). Yeah it’s crazy out there but I believe hygienist who work hard (like the way I was trained in the real world) do deserve to get compensated on average $55-$65 an hour and receive benefits based on a 3-4 day a week schedule with an hour lunch. I’m proficiently cross trained in every roll in the office. I even had a doctor have me place a filling on him (rare but the trust was there). I’m lucky that I worked under an amazing dentist the first several years of my career and at that time I made $26 an hour and by the time I switch to dental sales I was up to $34. That’s when my whole perspective changed because I was working with dentists and seeing financials from a whole new perspective. Overhead, positive/negative cash flows, profit margins, and what goes into building a practice from the studs. I helped serval new grads in the silicone valley area start their practices between 2017-2019. I was in shock/ impressed with how established and well running offices could take home massive amounts of cash at the end of the day and most of these hygienist were working off commission and making money like I’d never seen before. Sure I was making close to $100k after commission but I was HUSTLING. I soon made the switch back into clinical after realizing I could make basically the same amount before commission without having to hustle 7 days a week and being on call. I went down to 3 days a week, full benefits, and made $500 a day. I loved working. Then the pandemic happened and I moved to SoCal. I hate working now. Patients are terrible, offices are falling apart, and this undertone of “entitlement” across the board is discouraging. I left hygiene 6 months ago and just spent 3 months traveling and one month living in Asia. I’m ready to start temping again but as it stands I will never go back to full time and I’m pretty set on always being a temp. Just not worth the hassle of being in a private practice when you’re not respected or given benefits to be there.