EMB ERJ 170 Captain reported miscommunication and a lack of consensus was experienced when documenting a leading edge dent for maintenance inspection.

Narrative

While doing the post flight walk around in ZZZ; the First Officer; Name; was notified by ramp personnel of a dent on the aircraft. He reported this to me and we both went out to inspect it. Although the dent was very small; it was there; and he must have missed it in his preflight. There were no markings anywhere around the dent that would be evidence of a previous write up and when comparing the DMIs (Deferred Maintenance Item) listed in the deferred log index; there were no write-ups that matched this dent either. So I made a logbook entry and called maintenance. This was the last flight of the day for the aircraft so I bypassed dispatch and called maintenance directly. I spoke with Name1 in maintenance and gave him the description of the dent. He informed me that they keep a longer list of previously reported and DMI dents that I don't have access to. Within a few seconds he found one the he thought matched it and he described the previously reported dent almost verbatim to how I had explained it to him. I thought it was strange that the dent was described almost identical to how I described it to him. I told him that I had already logged the entry in the AFML (Air Frame Maintenance Log) and he said that was fine; I could just void it. I told him I didn't feel comfortable voiding an entry that I had no way of seeing that it was previously written up for myself. While still on the phone; Name1 said to another technician in the background something along the lines of ' I have a pilot that doesn't want to do his job'. The other person told him to send me to the Duty Pilot. Before he even had a chance to say anything; I told him I would be more than happy to speak to the Duty Pilot. I felt like they were trying to intimidate me into clearing this entry. I was transferred to Name2; the Duty Pilot; and told him the situation. I told him I didn't feel comfortable clearing an entry just because Maintenance told me to without having access to this other book of previously reported DMIs. He told me that we do in fact keep another list of DMIs and that it's our policy to just clear the entry if we are told by maintenance that it's previously reported. He stated I need to have more trust with maintenance and that trust is in our guiding principles. I asked why they couldn't just have contract maintenance clear the entry as previously reported and he stated that contract maintenance was expensive. I reluctantly voided the entry. I had Maintenance and the Duty Pilot telling me to do so and I felt like the dent was insignificant and in my opinion; no safety threat. I immediately regretted doing this as I didn't believe that was the right way of handling the situation. If Maintenance is the one with access to this other book; I felt like they should be the ones to clear the entry. That way they are signing their name to the AFML; attesting that they confirmed it was previous damage and not new damage. I feel if their name was connected to that statement; they wouldn't be so nonchalant about it.While waiting for the van I ran this situation by one of our senior check airman that I greatly respect. He felt the same way I did and didn't think it was my responsibility to void the entry. I decided to call the Assistant Chief Pilot; Name3; to talk to him about it. Much to my surprise; Name3 immediately took the side of Maintenance and the Duty Pilot. He said much of the same things Name 2; the Duty Pilot; said but also said that as long as I follow the direction of Maintenance; on a recorded line; I remove responsibility from myself. I still didn't like it and continued to think about it. Although I hadn't mentioned this to anyone yet; I really didn't trust Name1; the original maintenance guy I spoke with. He came to the conclusion way to quickly that this was previous damage without asking very many questions at all and he described it to me almost verbatim as I had described it to him. He stated it was item #2 of what I believe he called'the dent an ding logbook'. At this point I had been at the hotel for about an hour and decided to call maintenance back. I spoke with Name4. I asked him if it was possible to get a copy of the dent and ding logbook page for item #2. This is what Name1 had said was the same dent that I had written up. I figured if I could see it for myself; I could rest easier. He agreed to this and emailed a copy of the page while I was still on the phone with him. Within seconds he realized that this was not the same dent that I had described based on the location. He looked for another possible entry and I sent him the pictures that I had taken. He sent me dent #8 in the logbook and it was quite obvious that this was also not the dent I had written up and then cleared. I realized this was a legitimate maintenance issue that I was talked into voiding it out by not only maintenance but the Duty Pilot and Assistant Chief Pilot. I informed Name4 that I was heading back to the airport to write it up again.There was a contract maintenance guy at the aircraft already mapping it out by the time I arrived. I added a second discrepancy worded the same as the voided entry and notified Operations. I believe the motivation to sweep this under the rug was financial and it's very concerning that the Duty Pilot and Assistant Chief Pilot were so quick to back up maintenance with little to no investigation on their end. I too am concerned with helping the company keep cost down but money should never overshadow safety. If Maintenance; the Duty Pilot and Assistant Chief Pilot are willing to pressure me; a Senior Captain and Instructor; they are definitely going to do this to junior captains. I feel this type of mindset is a safety problem and I wanted to make sure it is brought to light.