The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of short-time DC heating on the phase transformation and superelasticity of a Ti-50.8at. %Ni alloy, which is extensively used as orthodontics arch wires. The alloy was pre-treated in three different conditions prior to the DC heating, including 15% cold-rolling (asreceived), 15% cold-rolling and 673K ageing (aged) and 15% cold-rolling and 973K annealing (annealed). DC heating was performed using a Shinwa Bender Soarer-II equipment. DSC, XRD and tensile tests were employed to study the alloy's phase transformation behaviour, phase constituents, and superelasticity, respectively. Itwas found that the aged sampleswere sensitive to the short-time DC heating treatment and the dissolution of Ti3Ni4 precipitates into TiNi matrix completed within 15 s. In contrast, the as-received and the annealed samples showed little response to the DC heating. Such findings are of direct relevance to applications of TiNi as orthodontic arch wires, which often involve rapid electrical heating for shape setting.