Concern has existed for almost ten years regarding the safety and efficacy of formaldehyde-based medicaments like formocresol in dentistry. Formocresol has been shown to be therapeutically outdated for decades. While the use of formocresol around the world continues to drop, it is still utilised in alarmingly high rates, an age-old bias that is unsubstantiated by overall academic research. Formaldehyde remains a genotoxic and carcinogenic problem worldwide. The most recent articles are discussed in the light of the need to abandon formocresol.

http://www.nature.com/bdj/journal/v207/n11/full/sj.bdj.2009.1103.html