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In the majority of places surveyed, it was usual to hang bones or other hard objects around their neck or give them to children during the teething period. The purpose was for the children to chew on them to relieve the discomfort caused by the gum inflammation, make secretion easier and expel the saliva and even cause their incision making it easier for the children to cut their teeth.
Even earlier than the custom of chewing a crust of bread, it seems that bacon rind was used, which was reported in the early 20<sup>th</sup> 20th century in Aoiz (N), Using bacon rind was also found in Zeberio (B). In Sangüesa (N), a piece of well cured ham would be used because “it had salt”.
More recently, from the 1960s onwards, hard rubber or plastic teething items, sometimes in the form of a ring or handle and others as a bone, are now available for the children to chew on (Agurain, Berganzo, Bernedo-A, Durango-B, Aoiz, San Martín de Unx-N). They are called ''chupadores'' (Artajona-N), ''mordedores'' (Aoiz) or ''masticadores'' (Obanos-N) and some of them hold water so they can be put in the fridge for the cold to relieve child’s discomfort as it chews on them. In Bermeo (B), they explained that people would buy a bone tied to a bell and it was hung on a ribbon around the child’s neck so that when it experienced discomfort, it could chew on it.
