Weird dental hygienist encounter: have my teeth not been getting cleaned?

I want to start this caveat that I have extremely good teeth. I think a lot of this is genetics, and I’ve always brush and floss and did fluoride rinse growing up when I had well water. I have had one cavity several years ago and my teeth are naturally very straight. Between graduate school and having my kids at one point, I didn’t go to the dentist for five years and when I did finally start going again, they were like yeah nothing to report here, we can see why you felt comfortable skipping. Because I have really healthy teeth going to the dentist has always been a positive experience for me and cleanings have never been painful. The most discomfort I have ever experienced at a dentist prior to today was just one time with the hygienist was a bit rough with the floss and my gums bled a little.

I go to a nice/higher end dental practice. I’ve gotten my teeth cleaned there at least 6 times by now, and at least 4 of those times I was also seen by a dentist. got my teeth cleaned today and within a minute of starting, I had to ask the hygienist to be more gentle. She was doing something I’ve never experienced before. It felt like she was tugging out my bottom front tooth from the inside (the side my tongue is on) with the little hook scalpel thing they use to remove plaque and tartar. To me when I touch it with my nail it really feels like it’s a sharper part of my tooth right at the gum line, sort of like a ridge. 10 hours later and it’s still achy. She was really going at it. She started again and it was still really uncomfortable. She explained that there was a big chunk of tartar there and I let her know I had never experienced this sort of pulling and discomfort before. She ended up looking at my chart and told me the last hygienist I had was a temp who was no longer working there because she wasn’t doing her job/wasn’t actually cleaning teeth (this I believe because that lady was SO gentle). She said I could get local anesthetic to which I said no thank you and asked her to just move on past that piece of tartar. She said she’d use the polisher but that doesn’t always get tartar off. Then later while we were waiting for the dentist to come in, she looked at my chart again and said that the woman I had prior to that (so the time before last) had also been let go for not properly cleaning teeth. And yes let’s take a moment to acknowledge how inappropriate it was for her to be telling me this. She was a real sourpuss.

First off, if these hygienists weren’t cleaning properly wouldn’t the dentist have noticed when they came in and looked at my teeth after the cleaning and said something? The dentist today was quick but thorough (he looked at every tooth) but sometimes the dentists will point out spots to keep an eye on or even use that little cavity finder tool so it’s not like they’re not looking closely. Secondly, it’s not like these 2 hygienists who were let go are the only other people who have cleaned my teeth (I see a different hygienist every time) and wouldn’t I have experienced this with other hygienists?

Was she totally gaslighting me or is she just super rough? Is it really that likely that I’ve never had someone properly cleaning my teeth before? I’m 38 years old and again, 1 cavity ever and the actual dentists always comment on how healthy my teeth and gums are.