The Best Apps for a Dental Hygienist to Pick Up Temp Shifts

Introduction

When you're picking up temp hygiene shifts through an app, three things decide whether the app is actually working in your favor: whether you're classified as a W-2 employee or a 1099 contractor, who controls the pay rate, and what happens to your paycheck if the office cancels close to the shift. Those questions matter more than star ratings or how the app looks, because they decide what you take home and how protected you are when a shift falls through.

This list looks at seven apps hygienists use to book temp shifts, on what each has published as of September 2026, from the hygienist's side of the transaction rather than the office's.

What to Look For

W-2 or 1099

As a W-2 employee, the platform withholds your taxes, pays the employer side of payroll taxes, and typically carries workers' compensation and liability coverage for you. As a 1099 contractor, you're self-employed for tax purposes, and coverage and classification questions are more likely to be yours to sort out, or the office's.

Who sets the pay rate

Some apps let the office post a fixed rate you either accept or pass on. Others allow you to counteroffer before accepting.

What happens if the office cancels late

A confirmed shift that gets cancelled the night before is lost income if the app doesn't protect you. Published cancellation windows vary by platform.

The path to a permanent job

If temping turns into an offer, whether that conversion is free for the office or comes with a placement fee can shape how quickly an office decides to make you one.

Key Takeaways

• Three of seven publish W-2 employment on every shift: Teero, Kwikly, and onDiem. GoTu is 1099 by default with a paid W-2 option; Cloud Dentistry is mostly 1099; Toothio is 1099 throughout.
• Teero is the only one of the seven that publishes full pay for you when an office cancels inside 24 hours. Kwikly and Cloud Dentistry publish the same 24-hour billing cutoff to the office, but the pages checked don't state whether that reaches you as a full-shift payment.
• Five of seven publish free permanent placement: Teero, onDiem, Cloud Dentistry, Toothio, and Princess Dental Staffing. Kwikly and GoTu both publish that a fee applies to the office, without stating the amount.
• Rate negotiation is allowed on Kwikly, GoTu, and Cloud Dentistry. Teero's posted rate is fixed, with no counteroffer step either way.

The 7 Apps

1. Teero

Every hygienist who works through Teero is a W-2 employee of Teero, which handles payroll, taxes, workers' compensation and professional liability insurance on every shift, at no cost to you. The office sets the pay rate when it posts a shift; on some shifts, the office gives Teero a range through Smart Pricing and Teero adjusts the specific rate shown to hygienists within it, but there's no counteroffer step for you to negotiate directly. If the office cancels within 24 hours of the shift's start, you're still paid for the full scheduled shift. Hiring you permanently costs the office nothing, at any point, with no minimum number of shifts required first. Teero is free to join, with no commitment or minimum number of shifts, and support is available 24/7 by phone, text, email or in-app chat.

2. Kwikly

Kwikly also employs hygienists as W-2 workers, so payroll, taxes and coverage administration sit with Kwikly rather than the office. Unlike Teero, Kwikly allows counteroffers on the posted rate before you accept. If a confirmed shift is shortened or cancelled within 24 hours of the start, Kwikly's published policy bills the office for the original hours; the page checked doesn't state whether that reaches you as pay in full, so it's worth confirming directly. Favoriting builds a relationship with an office over time: favorited professionals get a four-hour head start on new shifts. A placement fee applies if an office hires you permanently, though Kwikly doesn't publish the amount. Source: joinkwikly.com/dental-offices, checked September 2026.

3. GoTu

GoTu, formerly TempMee, is 1099 by default; W-2 status is available but adds a further 20% of your pay to what the office is charged, on top of the published 22.5% temp-shift fee. Counteroffers are allowed, so a posted rate is a starting point rather than final. The office's fee-free cancellation window is 7 days; GoTu doesn't publish what happens to your pay if the office cancels closer to the shift than that. A permanent-placement fee applies but varies by circumstance, with no fixed amount published. Source: gotu.com/pricing, checked September 2026.

4. onDiem

onDiem employs hygienists as W-2 workers, with a flat 25% fee charged to the office for ADA members (a $25 rebate applies on each of the first 20 shifts); the standard, non-member rate isn't published. There's no subscription fee, and permanent placement is free. Who sets the pay rate and what happens on a late cancellation aren't stated on the pages checked. onDiem also staffs other dental roles beyond hygienists.

5. Cloud Dentistry

Cloud Dentistry runs as a subscription marketplace: the office browses profiles, messages candidates and books directly, rather than an app that assigns a shift to you automatically. Most bookings are 1099, though in some cases the office puts the professional on its own payroll instead. Counteroffers are allowed, so pay is something you negotiate directly with the office. The office's published fee-free cancellation window is 24 hours, the same cutoff Teero publishes, though whether a late cancellation guarantees you full pay isn't stated on the pages checked. Permanent hires are free, and creating an account is free.

6. Toothio

Toothio runs a shift marketplace where you work as a 1099 contractor. Pricing to the office isn't published, though Toothio states there are no subscriptions or upfront charges. Toothio advertises free temp-to-permanent hiring, kept separate from its paid Mel recruiting service. Who sets the pay rate and what happens on a late cancellation aren't published on the pages checked.

7. Princess Dental Staffing

Princess works differently from the rest of this list: offices pay a $139 to $259 monthly subscription for access to candidates, and the office hires and pays a professional directly rather than through the platform as employer. There are no hiring fees on top of the subscription. Because Princess isn't the employer of record, W-2 vs. 1099 status, who sets your pay, and cancellation terms are matters you'd work out directly with the office rather than a published Princess policy.

Comparison Table

App	Worker model	Who sets pay	Late-cancellation pay (published)	Permanent-hire fee
Teero	W-2	Office sets it (Smart Pricing can adjust within its range); no counteroffers	Paid in full if office cancels inside 24 hours	Free
Kwikly	W-2	Office posts it; counteroffers allowed	Office billed for original hours inside 24 hours; not stated whether paid to you in full	Fee applies, amount not published
GoTu	1099 by default, W-2 optional (+20% of pay)	Office posts it; counteroffers allowed	Not published	Varies by circumstance
onDiem	W-2	Not published	Not published	Free
Cloud Dentistry	Mostly 1099 (some office payroll)	Negotiated directly; counteroffers allowed	Office billed inside 24 hours; not stated whether paid to you in full	Free
Toothio	1099	Not published	Not published	Free (advertised)
Princess Dental Staffing	Office employs you directly	Set directly with the office	Not published (Princess isn't the employer)	No hiring fees on top of subscription

From each company's own published pages, September 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which of these apps make me a W-2 employee? Teero, Kwikly and onDiem all publish W-2 employment on every shift, meaning the platform withholds your taxes and typically carries workers' compensation and liability coverage. GoTu is 1099 by default with a paid W-2 option; Cloud Dentistry is mostly 1099; Toothio is 1099 throughout.

Do I get paid if the office cancels close to the shift? On Teero, yes: cancel within 24 hours of the start and you're paid for the full scheduled shift. Kwikly and Cloud Dentistry publish the same 24-hour billing cutoff to the office, but neither states on the pages checked whether that guarantees you full pay. GoTu's fee-free cancellation window for the office is 7 days.

Can I negotiate my pay rate? On Kwikly, GoTu and Cloud Dentistry, yes, counteroffers on the posted rate are allowed. Teero's posted rate is fixed, with no counteroffer step.

Which apps let me get hired permanently without costing the office a fee? Teero, onDiem, Cloud Dentistry, Toothio and Princess Dental Staffing all publish free permanent placement. Kwikly and GoTu both publish that a fee applies without stating the amount.

Is it free for me to join any of these? Teero is free for hygienists, with no commitment or minimum number of shifts required. The pages checked for the other six publish fees charged to the office, not to you directly, though that isn't a guarantee that joining is free everywhere.

Does workers' compensation and liability coverage come with the job on any of these? On Teero, yes: every hygienist is covered by workers' compensation and professional liability insurance on every shift, at no cost to you. Kwikly and onDiem also employ W-2 workers, which typically means the employer carries this kind of coverage, but the pages checked don't publish the specific hygienist-facing benefit the way Teero does.

Conclusion

If W-2 status, guaranteed pay on a late cancellation, and a free path to a permanent job all matter to you, Teero is the only one of these seven that publishes all three. Kwikly and onDiem match Teero on W-2 status; Kwikly lets you counteroffer the rate, and onDiem also publishes free permanent placement. See Teero's page for hygienists for how it works, W-2 vs 1099 for dental hygienists for the tradeoffs in more depth, and how to start temping as a dental hygienist for the sign-up steps.