Baby’s first year of life is full of memorable experiences; first word, first step, first grasp. Each of them seems to be a miracle to parents. However, the emergence of baby’s first tooth is still a cause for celebration in Iran and some other parts of the world.

Throughout the centuries, many cultures have had traditions associated with the event and Iranians are not an exception.

People in the northern province of Gilan celebrate baby’s first tooth during a ceremony called ‘Gaz Furshon’, meaning ‘tooth celebration’ in the local dialect.

The parents invite relatives and neighbors to take part in the celebration. They cook wheat, fava bean, lentil, and red bean together and then discard water. They serve the food in a number of dishes and decorate them with Noghl (small sugary sweets) and raisin. 

Then, they spread a piece of cloth and put the dish and different kinds of sweets on it. They sit down the baby and put a volume of the Holy Quran, a pen, a mirror, and some other objects in front of the baby and let him or her pick one of the objects. Selecting each of them means the baby will follow a specific career in the future, namely becoming a clergyman, a scholar, or a barber.

At the ceremony, an amount of roasted rice, lentil, and chickpea are poured on the head of the baby wishing for him or her to enjoy foods the entire life.

The poor families who cannot afford the celebration, feed some birds, instead.

Tooth celebration nationwide

The appearance of baby’s first tooth is celebrated in different parts of Iran under the name of ‘Jashn-e Dandooni’, which literally means ‘tooth celebration’.

During the event, the family invites relatives and friends and cook a special kind of soup named ‘Dandooni’. The soup is composed of different kinds of grain including chickpea, pinto bean, red bean, white bean, lentil, barley, rice and wheat.

Before cooking the soup, the parents feed birds with grains in the hope of easy growing of the baby’s teeth.

 
Tooth celebration worldwide 

There’s an Armenian tradition called ‘Agra Hadig’. Agra meaning tooth and Hadig refers to the traditional wheat dish made for the occasion. The baby is presented with 5 items and whichever one he/she picks up predicts his or her future occupation. If the child picks up a book or a Bible, he/she will be a scholar, teacher, or clergy person; money means he/she will become a banker, financier or wealthy person; a hammer means he/she will be in the building trades; a knife symbolizes a doctor and a scissors foretells a life as a seamstress or tailor.

Another tradition is called ‘tooth money’. It’s believed that early Christians would wait till the first tooth appeared to have the baptism after which the baby is gifted money.

There is also a tradition in Italy and Ireland that a teething child receives a gift of shoes. Why shoes? What’s that got to do with teeth? Well it signifies that the baby is thriving - a safe time to anticipate his/her first steps.

And there is a tradition dating back to ancient Scandinavians who tied the fang of a wolf around the baby’s neck on a leather necklace.

SB/MG