The body on the floor? Profitability. The suspect? $100-an-hour hygiene wages. But the wage didn't kill your margins. Your model did. Across the country, practice owners are staring at hygiene payroll and asking how the math stopped working. Hourly rates have climbed to $50, $75, even $100 in some markets. Payroll feels bloated. Margins feel compressed. The instinct is predictable: Hygiene is too expensive. The issue isn't what hygienists are paid.