Dentist LOR dilemma....advice please....(long)

[Msmouth]

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My career as a RDH is over 15 years so needless to say I've worked for countless dentists. Since 2004 I have been at 1 office and I temp on the side.
The dentist that owns the practice doesn't take the time to get to know any of his employees including me, nor has he commented on my decision to go back to school and apply to dental school, so I'm reluctant to ask him.
There is another dentist in the practice that works for him that does know me better and does talk to me and supports my decision. My worry is that I've seen many of his letters/writing over the years and he comes off vague along with some bad sentence structure.

I have worked temporarily 1 summer for a VERY well known Periodontist in the area. He complimented me on my work several times and always requested me to come back. His writing is impeccable as I have seen correspondence from him to our office.

Another dentist I'm considering is a dentist whom I have temped for over the past 5 years. They request me often and out of 15 hygienist that were interviewed they only wanted me. There are 2 dentist in the practice and the one dentist I'm thinking of graduated from my top school 10 years ago. She knows my work ethic but we haven't had much time to converse except for during our lunches. I'm leaning toward her.

My other thought, and I don't know how this works, is to ask for 2 or 3 different LOR's and just choose the best one once they get onto my application......
So my other question is: Can you delete the LOR's you don't want?

If you read all of this, I really appreciate it and thanks for your advice!

 

[Msmouth]

BUMP...
and to add:

Today I temped for a dentist who is on staff 1X/month at the school I'm applying to. She wholeheartedly offered to write me a LOR and she knows admissions.

now I'm torn between 4 dentists. Not a bad problem to have but the decision is hard.

 

[RazorbackDDS]

Well, you're lucky you have so many good letters to choose from! I just applied this last cycle, so my advice may not be as good as the multi-cycle applicants out there, but I'll give it a shot from what I've learned:

1) the letters you need depend on what school you're applying to. Some schools don't require letters but accept them as supplementary material (which still means you must send good ones). Some schools require very specific letters. For example, they may require a pre-dental or pre-health committee letter as well as a letter from a dentist you shadowed/worked for. Some want one from a professor and two or three other authors of your choice. Look up each school's requirements and make sure they are satisfied. I'm assuming religiously affiliated school want letters from clergy, but not really sure.

2) For the schools that I applied to, I tried to make myself look as "well rounded" as possible via my application. Letters can really help here. For the schools that don't require a certain set of letters, I wouldn't suggest sending 3 or 4 letters from dentists as this only displays one side of your personality. Personally, I used a dentist I shadowed (specifically asking to write about my potential as a clinician), my genetics/neurology professor (specifically asking to write about academic ability), my old boss (work ethic), and the director of a free health clinic where I volunteered (compassion, community awareness, etc). I think this approach works quite well. Your gpa and DAT score don't convey that you're a compassionate member of society, so your personal statement and letters are your only chance pre-interview. Also, I would say the best letter would probably touch on all of these qualities.

3. You didn't mention this, but I've heard that using political letters, for example from a senator, can actually hurt you in this area. Just something to think about.

So with all of this in mind, I'll get to the point. Don't use a letter from the dentist who knows you but doesn't write well, unless you really feel it could be beneficial. I think you may be wasting one of your 4 letters that could be used to "round yourself out." I had a letter similar to this in my application (no real depth, basically just bragging about me/flattery), and they mentioned something along the line of "oh well he obviously liked you, so would he be anything but fluffy complements." I'm sure they get tons of these letters. Sit down with the dentist who you've worked with and ask him if he could write you a good letter. Give him a hard copy of your achievements if you think he doesn't know you well enough. Specifically ask him to talk about your work ethic (maybe ask him if he thinks its good first). Definitely use the periodontist if he writes well. Use this letter to possibly focus on your ability to be a good dentist someday. Definitely use the dentist that knows the admissions committee, but only for that school's application if you can.

So, if you use the perio letter along with your long term boss, you'll have 2 of the 3 or 4 letters. I would save the last one (or two) for someone who can comment on your academic ability (first priority) and/or compassion and sympathy towards others. I hope all of this rambling helped! Also, I'm sure there are some good posts about letters somewhere on SDN...