Hindawi Publishing Corporation International Journal of Dentistry Volume 2012, Article ID 484291, 6 pages doi:10.1155/2012/484291 Clinical Study The Uptake of Nickel-Titanium Rotary Files in Saudi Arabia Emad AlShwaimi Restorative Dental Sciences Department, College of Dentistry, University of Dammam, 7440 AlHosam, Dammam 32222-4371, Saudi Arabia Correspondence should be addressed to Emad AlShwaimi, ealshwaimi@ud.edu.sa Received 21 December 2011; Accepted 29 January 2012 Academic Editor: Silvio Taschieri Copyright © 2012 Emad AlShwaimi. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Aim. We surveyed the uptake of nickel-titanium rotary ﬁles (NTRFs) among all dentists in Saudi Arabia. Methodology. A questionnaire encompassing endodontic performance and NTRF uptake was e-mailed to all members of the Saudi Dental Society. Data were collected from participants during a three-month period and were analyzed using χ2 tests and correlation coeﬃcients. Level of signiﬁcance was set at P = 0.05. Results. The overall response rate was 30.6% (n = 490), and 82.9% were found to perform root canal treatment (RCT). Among the 406 RCT performers, general dentists formed the bulk (45%). Among endodontists, 91.5% were using NTRF (P < 0.001). Those who graduated between 1991 and 2000 used NTRF more than any other group did (78.4%, P = 0.05). Graduates from Europe and Australia used NTRF most frequently (100%, P = 0.001), followed by those from North America (87%, P = 0.001), and ﬁnally by Saudi Arabian graduates (68.7%). Male respondents performed more endodontic procedures and used NTRF signiﬁcantly more often than female respondents did (males: 73%; females: 56.2%) (P = 0.001). The most signiﬁcant reasons for not using NTRF were “unavailability” (64.7%, P ≤ 0.05) and “lack of experience” (54.1%, P ≤ 0.001). Conclusions. We found that NTRF usage was not as widespread in Saudi Arabia as in other developing countries. Therefore, we suggest an improved implementation of NTRF in undergraduate and postgraduate curriculums and the provision of educational courses with a greater focus on this development. 1. Introduction There have been many developments in endodontics since the year 1990, the most prominent of which has been the in- troduction of nickel-titanium rotary ﬁles (NTRFs), which were introduced by Walia et al. to overcome the rigidity of stainless-steel ﬁles, particularly those in large sizes [1, 2]. It is known that nickel-titanium instruments possess many other favourable characteristics compared with stainless-steel ﬁles, such as resistance to torsional fracture and lower modulus of elasticity [1, 3]. Several publications reported fewer proce- dural errors while preparing the root canal system using NTRF [4]. The adoption of any new technology is prone to user acceptance or rejection. Questionnaires are widely acknowl- edged as being a useful tool for identifying and collecting user feedback since they are objective, deliver results quickly, and are inexpensive. This tool helps in identifying the problems facing the target group and therefore helps to ﬁnd solutions. There have been many reports regarding NTRF and their properties, but few studies have investigated the adoption and usage parameters of these ﬁles. However, some surveys have been conducted in several countries, including Sudan [5], Denmark [6], Australia [7, 8], Belgium [9], Sweden [10], and, recently, in the United States of America [11]. Although NTRFs were introduced in Saudi Arabia in the early 1990s, thus far, there has been no information available regarding the extent of usage or uptake of these ﬁles by general dentists or endodontists. However, such information is considered critical for records, planning continuous edu- cation courses, and focusing on the weak links that dentists are facing. Therefore, the results can be used by the Saudi Endodontic Society and the Saudi Dental Society as reference and guidance as well as by the companies that produce NTRF to give them an improved understanding of the usage and adoption of the technique. The aim of this study was to survey the performance of root canal treatment (RCT) and usage of NTRF among a suﬃciently representative number