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The nature and quality of feedback provided during the training of healthcare students have been found to influence the progress of students throughout their clinical practice. The use of electronic systems for feedback is becoming more prevalent; but there appears to be an absence of research into the use of these systems with Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy students (DHDT). The aim of this study was to explore the written, narrative feedback provided by tutors to undergraduate DHDT students on a 3-year BSc programme, using Liftupp - an Information Management System that incorporates electronic feedback mechanisms.The data comprised written, narrative feedback to DHDT students (n = 96) on clinical performance in academic Years Two and Three entered into Liftupp by five clinical tutors (n = 5) over 2 academic years. These feedback comments were subjected to a thematic analysis and matrix queries using NVivo.Ten major themes were identified. Preliminary findings indicated that the constructive "Descriptive" theme was prominent across all tutors, while other constructive themes: "Directive" and "Positive" were linked more to individual tutors. The less constructive themes were infrequent in tutor feedback. In addition, unique feedback profiles for tutors were generated.The analysis of narrative feedback from tutors on Liftupp enables the identification of feedback trends that can be reviewed and shared with tutors to improve the quality of their feedback. In addition, this research can be used to inform tutor training to promote the use of meaningful and effective feedback. Potential further research and limitations have been identified.

Objectives To investigate the survival in terms of time to re-intervention of composite restorations in posterior teeth among patients attending for treatment at a primary care dental outreach setting over an 11-year period and to determine whether dental, patient or operator factors influenced this. Methods Electronic primary dental care data were collected on individual patients, including information on their dental treatment and socio-demographics as well as service provision, key performance indicators and student activity. Results A total of 1086 patients had at least one posterior composite placed between 2007 and 2018. This amounted to 3194 restorations placed of which 308 had a re-intervention within the 11-year period. For all restorations, the annual failure rate at 1 year was 5.73 %, at 5 years was 16.78 % and at 10 years was 18.74 %. A logistic regression showed that when compared to the least deprived 5th quintile, the most deprived 1st and 2nd quintiles were significantly less likely to have a re-intervention, being 49.2 % (p = 0.022) and 53.2 % (p = 0.031) less likely, respectively. Conclusions The survival rates of posterior composite restorations placed at a single outreach centre providing undergraduate dental training in the South of England, mirrors other studies. The new findings presented suggest similar re-intervention rates between dental students and dental hygiene-therapy students. This study’s findings around patient deprivation and rate and time of re-intervention raises important questions related to the need for targeted dental and after care for certain groups in the population. Clinical significance Understanding the factors associated with re-intervention of restorations provided to patients has an impact on patients and dental practices. Also, as we consider widening use of skill mix in dentistry to increase access to care, parity in provision of treatments within the dental team increases opportunities for delegation of tasks.