Dentist Cover Letter Sample

You might have no trouble assessing patients’ oral health, but do you know how to effectively promote your dentistry expertise in a cover letter? Prove to employers you’re capable of providing excellent dental care with an outstanding cover letter, and you’re sure to get a callback.

Follow these three tips to write a dentist cover letter that leaves a biting impression for all the right reasons:

1. Highlight your dentist skills

To write an impressive dentist cover letter, showcase your dental experience, attention to detail, interpersonal skills, ability to work under pressure, and knowledge of dental procedures and equipment.

Working in dentistry requires a highly specialized skill-set. Assure employers you meet their technical requirements by highlighting key dentist hard skills when discussing your work experience in the body of your cover letter.

Be sure to also mention any areas of specialty, such as periodontics or oral surgery.

Here are important dentist technical skills to include:

• Dental assessments
• Four-handed dentistry
• Fluoride treatments
• Teeth extraction
• Crowns, bridges, and veneers
• Restorative procedures
• Preventative treatments
• Teeth whitening
• X-Rays

Because dentists work with several patients daily while collaborating with a range of professionals to ensure adequate dental care is provided, employers seek a good mix of hard and soft skills when hiring dentists.

Here are some dentist soft skills to emphasize throughout your dentist cover letter:

• Active listening
• Patience
• Accountability
• Manual dexterity
• Hand-eye coordination
• Customer service skills
• Communication skills 
• People skills
• Leadership skills
• Problem-solving skills
• Ability to work under pressure
• Teamwork

Not sure how to work those skills into your cover letter? Here’s an example, using targeted cover letter bullet points:

Please consider the following highlights of my career:

• Received numerous awards in Removable Prosthodontics and Periodontics
• Licensed to Practice Dentistry in Texas and Indiana
• Managed 1,000+ complex cases

2. Open with a strong cover letter introduction

Knowing how to start your cover letter in a compelling way will get employers interested in scheduling an interview to discuss your qualifications further.

To write a strong cover letter introduction, you need to show employers you have the qualifications, skills, and passion necessary to keep up with the demands of a busy dental practice.

Instead of making general statements about your qualifications, focus on showing employers how your skills and experience can add value to their dental office.

Here’s how to craft a job-winning dentist cover letter introduction:

• Prove you’re qualified. In your first sentence, make sure the employer knows you’re licensed for dental work in your state.
• Show your excitement. A typical day for a dentist may involve lengthy dental procedures and working closely on nervous patients. Conveying enthusiasm will show employers you have the passion to handle the stress that comes with the job. For example, “As a multi-state Licensed Dentist with 8 years of experience in private practice settings, I’m excited to submit my application for the Clinical Dentist position at XYZ Clinic.”
• Lead with an impressive accomplishment. For example, “In my current role, I practice as a managing dentist and clinical dentist with full accountability for managing all general dentistry procedures for a practice grossing over $3 mil. annually.”
• Align your talents to the job listing so employers can immediately recognize you’re a great fit. For example, “In this role, I conduct comprehensive, periodic, and emergency examinations, diagnose patients’ dental conditions, and present comprehensive treatment plans.”

3. Make sure your cover letter is the proper length

Hiring managers have countless job applications to review, so you only have minutes — or seconds — to catch their attention. An overly long cover letter can make an employer lose interest before they finish assessing your qualifications. However, a cover letter that’s way too short gives off the vibe that you didn’t put much effort into it.

To effectively promote your skills while holding an employer’s interest, you need to achieve the optimal cover letter length, which is typically 250–400 words.

Need some help? Here are some ways to keep your dentist cover letter the right length:

• Cut out any information that isn’t pertinent to the job. When elaborating on your skills and experience in the cover letter body, be sure to only include information that demonstrates why you’d be a great fit for the dentist position.
• Present your qualifications in a straightforward manner. To make yourself a more compelling candidate, use strong dentist action verbs when detailing your work experience, such as “supervised,” “oversaw,” or “conducted.”
• Avoid wordiness. Use bullet points in the cover letter body to sum up your dentistry skills and achievements.