Which of these dentists should I get letters of recommendation from?

[Nagafoo]

I know that on average, schools typically ask for a letter from two separate dentists. I have 3 to choose from and I'm not sure which to ask.

1. Dentist who I shadow 90% of the time at one of the practices in my university's town. She really likes me, she has gotten to know me well, and has already offered to write me a letter. I feel like she is probably the obvious choice for one of my letters.

2. Older dentist who started the practice mentioned above but I shadow him much less since he is not around as much due to his plans to retire. The main reason I think getting a letter from him could help me stand out is that he is a board member for the American Dental Association.

3. Dentist who lives back in my home state who I only shadow during breaks from school. He has more of a personal connection to me since our parents work together. I think the main advantage to a letter from him is that not only is he not working in the same practice as the other two, he is also in another state. I would think that the diversity in locations in which I've shadowed may be beneficial?

What combo of these three do you think would look best on an application?

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[Quinque]

1st letter for the reasons you detailed

 

[887194]

I would probably get Dentist 1 to write the letter and then keep in contact with Dentist 2 and ask him to send a letter directly to your top programs later on in the cycle.

 

[Auntymarkovnikov]

I say #1
Also schools ask for 1 letter from a dentist. What school said they wanted 2?

 

[Nagafoo]

I say #1
Also schools ask for 1 letter from a dentist. What school said they wanted 2?

A few months ago I was going down the list of dental schools and looking at their requirements and I was sure that I had seen at least one school that stated that they wanted two letters from dentists. Perhaps I was mistaken.

 

[Lau Sang]

Yeah you just need 1. Here's what you should do: ofc you're going to have dentist 1 write+sign your letter, but since dentist 2 works in the same office, you can ask for him to sign it as well. It'll be like "this office endorses Nagafoo." If you think he'd say no, then so be it. Otherwise, bring it up when you ask dentist 1 to write your letter and then ask dentist 2. This way you can have both their names on it if you really value his.

 

[Nagafoo]

Yeah you just need 1. Here's what you should do: ofc you're going to have dentist 1 write+sign your letter, but since dentist 2 works in the same office, you can ask for him to sign it as well. It'll be like "this office endorses Nagafoo." If you think he'd say no, then so be it. Otherwise, bring it up when you ask dentist 1 to write your letter and then ask dentist 2. This way you can have both their names on it if you really value his.

Fantastic idea! Thanks!

 

[Judajudo]

Do you guys think the specialty of the dentist writing the letter matters at all? Like I should try to get a letter from a general dentist rather than a specialist?

 

[887194]

Do you guys think the specialty of the dentist writing the letter matters at all? Like I should try to get a letter from a general dentist rather than a specialist?

General dentist. You can use the additional letter from the specialist later on in the cycle to improve your application - such as if you get waitlisted, or along with an experiences update to the programs you are interested in.