Letter of Recommendation from Dentist Mentor
- Feb 14, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 19, 2025
To Whom It May Concern,

My name is Dr. ____ ____ DDS, and I am a dentist in practice in ____ New Jersey, where I have operated my dental clinic for over 30 years. I am writing this Letter of Recommendation for an advanced placement program for international dentists for Dr. _____ ____. One day, this young man and dentist from India, ____, walked into my clinic, seeking to observe, learn, and assist me. We share a last name that is common where we are both from, the Gujarat State in India. I was most pleased and enjoyed sharing memories with him of Gujarat. I was especially favorably impressed after seeing the enormous capacity, talent, and potential of ____ to assist me around the clinic with the numerous tasks required to maintain a dental clinic functioning efficiently.

During the time that ____ spent with me in April 2017, he helped with everything from greeting, orienting, and educating patients about oral hygiene to plaque control and postoperative instructions, preparing them for treatment, etc. – even maintaining patient records. I especially appreciated the periodontal charts in Dentrix that he did for us and his work with our system of radiographic studies, pouring, trimming, and polishing study casts. I have never seen anyone clean instruments with greater diligence than ____, with careful attention to sterilization and disinfectant protocol, suctioning, and highly efficient positioning and passing tools for the dentist’s access.

I am thankful for the productive collegiality I experienced with ____ and the opportunity to get to know him well. I admire him for several reasons, including his work with underserved youth. I also admire his long-term goal of continuing in dental education even beyond a doctoral program and teaching dentistry at some point in his career. Earning his MPH degree from Long Island University evidenced his determination to excel academically. He is exceptionally well-read about all things with oral public health, mainly as it concerns India’s hundreds of millions of underserved.
I could not recommend ____ more highly for all the above reasons. I could not be more confident that he would distinguish himself for excellence in your competitive program if given an opportunity.
Sincerely,
Letter of Recommendation from Dentist Mentor






This letter of recommendation already carries a natural warmth and credibility that many applicants can only hope for. What makes it compelling is not just the dentist’s long-standing career or his authority as a practitioner of more than 30 years, but the genuine personal connection he establishes with the candidate. The shared cultural background becomes a doorway into something deeper: a mentor recognizing authentic talent, humility, and drive in a younger colleague.
The narrative of the candidate simply walking into the clinic and immediately demonstrating initiative gives the letter an organic, almost cinematic quality. It paints him as someone who doesn’t wait for opportunities—he creates them. The mentor’s detailed observations about his technical competence—periodontal charting, radiographic workflows, study cast preparation,…