Aim: To compare two nickel-titanium systems, for their preference, by dental graduates who used rotary nickel- titanium (NiTi) instruments for the first time.

Materials and Methods: Twenty fresh dental graduates who had the preliminary training on endodontic treatment using hand files were selected for the study. They were taught the basic technique of using rotary endodontic files. Thereafter, all the graduates were provided with 2 sets of rotary instruments with their labels peeled off and blinded as Set A (Gen ENDO files) and Set B (Protaper gold files) of instruments. They performed root canal preparation on two extracted maxillary first pre-molars, one each with the 2 sets provided to them. The participants were requested to fill a questionnaire form after using both the file systems, seeking their perception about ‘Ease of use’, ‘Flexibility’, ‘Cutting-efficiency’, ‘Screwing-effect’ and ‘Control over the files’. They were also requested to indicate that which file set they preferred in general. Data was compared between groups and analyzed.

Results: 85% participants expressed that Gen ENDO files were more easy to use as compared to Protaper Gold files, 60% expressed these files to be more flexible than Protaper Gold and 90% participants expressed that Gen ENDO files possessed low screwing effect as compared Protaper Gold. In general, 70 % participants indicated their preferred file system as Gen ENDO, 20% participants indicated their preferred file system as Protaper gold, while 10 % participants expressed that they were not sure.

Conclusions: Majority of graduates preferred the use of Gen ENDO rotary nickel-titanium files when using the rotary files for the first time.