The current solution is poor but the solution to revert to face dots is even worse.
I am quite confused as to why there is a debate about it as if the solution wasn’t obvious. It is - to differ how the selection looks in each mesh element mode:
1, Remove the ugly thickening of edges in edge mode. It looks bad and it makes edge selection on edge meshes exercise of frustration.
2, In vertex and edge mode, make the hinting of the faces that edge and vertex selections make up more subtle. Just slight tint.
3, In face mode, make fill the face areas with strong orange color, same one vertices and edges are filled with, but do not highlight edges.
4, Introduce face dots only in Xray mode (already current behavior)
This will make distinction between edge and face mode super simple, and good looking. There will be no more jarring changing of edge thickness when switching between edge and other modes.