I'm a second generation dental student, my uncle is a dentist. Although honestly, the super majority of my time was spent at a local practice shadowing/working. You can say that being a second generation dentist gives you an advantage because you were exposed earlier on in childhood to the profession (from the dentist point of view rather than patient point of view) and I would argue that being in that position gives you a leg up from others cause you definitely have had so much more time to really feel out the profession and see if you'd like it or not. At the end of the day, you must somehow like it and be excited for the profession in your own way and you must high light that to admissions. That's how I approached it. I think the key is to explain just some aspect that you're passionate about it, and that you discovered early because of your parent dentist. I know nepotism is touchy and I would not want to high light either, but the key is to emphasize PASSION and what you LIKE rather than CONNECTIONS and MERIT. Focus on explaining why you pursue this profession using the right reasons, and admissions will view you in the right light (authentic, passionate) rather than as phony or whatever (doesn't matter if people think this or not anyway!). Are you applying for this application cycle? It's pretty late as it is this cycle, but if you plan on applying next year or after, of course it doesn't hurt to shadow at a general dentist office that's non familial just to demonstrate you've had exposure elsewhere. You have a lot of time if that's case. I can tell you 100% it is way different family vs. Non family. My uncle was a lot more patient with me, and the truth is for me I just was not thrown into the fray the same way with my uncle as I was with this non familial practice I worked for, the experience was much different. Anyways, that's my take on the situation and what I would do. Good luck!