A lens with a small scratch or chip in the front element will work fine
if you cover the defect with black paint - how much smaller are your
dust specks?  :-)

About the only situation where you will see them is when out of focus
highlight circles are so large and prominent that they create a pinhole
effect with enough depth of field to focus that close, then the dust
becomes visible: repeated in each circle. This is pretty rare and it
shouldn't cause as much flare problems as a scratched front element
because it blocks light like a painted over scratch rather than sending
stray light across the frame. light glancing across dust on the front
element of a wide lens can cause ghosting spots but that must because
the light is coming in at an angle & hitting the side of the dust, not
parallel as with deeper dust.