10 Most Common Things People Chew On & What to Use Instead
31st Dec 2025
At ARK, we love answering your recommendation questions across our social media, customer service email and phone, and in person for those who have visited us at our HQ in South Carolina! Over a quarter century of making chews and the recommendations that come with that, we’ve compiled a list of the most common objects people chew on, and what chew tools we recommend using instead for a safe swap.
How Do We Recommend Chew Tools?
Our goal is to find a chew that mimics the object you chew on (if possible). Having a chew tool that’s a similar size, shape, or thickness as the object you chew on can help make transitioning to using your chew a smoother experience.
Here’s our list of the top 10 objects people chew on, follow along below to dive into each one!
- Fingernails
- Pencils/Pens/Erasers
- Shirt Collar/Fabric/Hoodie Strings
- Lips/Tongue/Inner Cheek
- Fingers
- Toys
- Straws/Cups With Soft Spouts
- Small items (water bottle cap, necklace pendants, gum)
- Hair
- Tougher objects (wooden toys, metal objects, hard plastic objects)
.
1. Fingernails
By far the most common request we get from our customers is a chewy swap for fingernail biting. We want to find a small, thin chew necklace to replace this habit - some favorites are the Loop Necklace, Guitar Pick, Bite Tube Necklace, or ParaBite. If you want to try a few shapes, our Nail Biting Chew Pack features our top picks.
2. Pencils, Pens, and/or Erasers
Pencil chewing, pen chewing, and eraser chewing are so common that they’re one of the first examples we give while explaining chew tools to people who’ve never heard of them before - everyone has either been a pencil chewer, or seen a fellow student or colleague chewing on a pen!
Our Chewable Pencil Toppers come in a variety of different shapes, to suit different styles of chewing. They’re solid on one end, and have a hollow tube at the other to slide over your pencil. If you chew with your back molars, a slender topper like the Krypto-Bite Gem Pencil Topper or Bite Saber topper would work best. For texture lovers, the Brick Stick or RoboChew topper give a higher level of sensory input.
For a more discreet option, the Bite-n-Chew Pencil Toppers and Write-n-Bite Pen Toppers have a sleek, thinner shape.
3. Shirt Collar/Shirt Sleeves, Fabric, Hoodie Strings
If your child comes home from school with a wet shirt collar and/or holes in their shirts, they might benefit from a horizontally strung sensory chew necklace like the Chewlinder, Krypto-Bite Tube, or Chevron.
Why does the orientation of the chew matter? With a necklace pendant strung horizontally, it’s more familiar to the motion of pulling the shirt collar up to the mouth to chew.
For mild chewers (who do no damage to their clothes), the Chewlinder or Krypto-Bite Tube would be options to check out first. For a more avid chewer, the Chevron offers a thicker shape that makes it more durable.
For hoodie strings, the Chewlinder or Chewth Pick in the softest level are a good swap! For a variety, our Shirt Chewing Pack features our three top recommended shirt collar chews.
4. Lips, Tongue, and/or Inner Cheek
We grouped these together because in our experience, people who bite or chew one of these things in the mouth area may also chew one of the others! The lips, tongue, and inner cheek area tend to feel more ‘squishy’, so we like to recommend a hollow chew tool. Our hollow chews feel softer than our solid chews (even if they’re in the same toughness level). They also compress down when you bite, which contributes to a ‘squishier’ experience.
The Bite Tube Necklace is the chew we recommend most often for lips, tongue, and inner cheek. For a handheld version, the Handheld Bite Tube or Hollow Grabber work great also.
We recommend trying these in the softest level if you’re replacing lip, tongue, or inner cheek chewing.
5. Fingers
Many of our customers self-soothe by chewing on their fingers. The back molar area of the mouth is where the most sensory feedback is needed for many folks with a need to chew. Fingers are the perfect long/slender shape, and they’re always there, so it makes sense this is a common recommendation request.
Our top picks feature a long and slender shape, like the Krypto-Bite Gem, Bite Saber, or Grabber. This mimics the shape of a finger, and comfortably reaches those back molars.
6. Toys
Do toy racecars, dolls, action figures, or building blocks with bite marks sound familiar? Toys are often brightly colored, with interesting texture and varying levels of hardness - very attractive for young sensory seekers!
If your little one has a particular toy they chew on, we’d recommend taking a look (or reaching out to us) to see if we’ve got a chew necklace for kids and adults in a similar shape. A few popular ones would be our Brick Stick (building blocks), Racecar (toy racecars), RoboChew, Buddy Bite, or Sidekick (action figures/dolls). We’ve also got dinosaurs for dino lovers, our Chewnicorn necklace, Fairy Princess Wand, and more.
7. Straws, Soft Cup Spouts
If you use a reusable straw cup with a silicone straw, a cup with a soft ‘spout’ type top, or like to chew on disposable straws, a hollow tube chew like the Bite Tube Necklace, or Handheld Bite Tubes would be right up your alley. We recommend sticking with the soft or medium level to match the feel of a straw.
For younger kids, the Hollow Grabber handheld chew has a P-shaped handle for easy holding.
8. Miscellaneous Small Items (water bottle caps, can tabs, necklace pendants, small bits of plastic, etc)
For our folks who just like to grab anything small and nearby to chew on, we recommend a petite pendant to replace chewing on these potentially unsafe items. Our smallest chew pendant is the ParaBite, which is only 1 inch x 0.5 inch. Next in line would be our Guitar Pick that’s just a bit bigger.
9. Hair
Chewing on hair is a request we’re getting more often these days - it can be a tricky recommendation request to answer. The sensory experience of someone chewing on their hair is unique to each person. The texture of your hair, the length, how you specifically chew it all plays a part in the sensory feedback you get. Because of this, there’s not a universal recommendation.
We recommend our hair chewers to a sensory chew that’s either thin or hollow, and has varied texture. The Textured Bite Tube, or Rainbow chew (both in the softest level) have become our hair chewing go-to alternatives.
10. Tougher Objects (wooden toys, any metal, hard plastic objects)
If you or your child chew on wooden toys, any metal objects, or hard plastic objects, our chews for avid chewers would last longer for you.
ARK chews for autism, ADHD, anxiety, and more come in three color-coded toughness levels - Softest, Medium, and Toughest.
- Standard, Softest: The softest level - recommended for mild chewers who do not chew through anything.
- XT, Medium Firm: The middle "Xtra Tough" level is firmer, but still fairly chewy - recommended for moderate chewers.
- XXT, Very Firm: The “Xtra Xtra Tough” level is very firm and durable - recommended as the longest lasting level for avid chewers.
What makes a chew a good option for an avid chewer is not just an XXT toughness level though - shape plays a big part in the durability of a chew! Chews that are wider, thicker, more robust, and with a smooth texture typically last longer than long, slender, pointed or heavily textured chews. This makes chews like our Super Star, Dino-Bite, Seashell, and Sidekick great options for stronger chewers.
What If I Chew On Everything?
If you’re thinking, “What if I just chew on everything?” - try a chew tool that’s long and slender like the Krypto-Bite Gem or Bite Saber (or Brick Stick if you’d like some texture). Back molar shapes like this are the most versatile because they can reach the back molars but also be chewed with the front teeth/premolars. Our Go-To Chew Necklace Pack features all three.
Another tip: if you’re shopping for someone who chews on ‘everything’, don’t put too much pressure on yourself for picking a just-right shape - it’s more likely they’ll be open to a variety of shapes since the items they chew vary as well.
Bonus: Still Don’t Know What to Choose?
If you’re ever unsure about what chew tool would work best for you or your loved one, please reach out to our Customer Support team! We’ve got hands-on knowledge of our products that we can’t wait to share with you to give you our best recommendation.
ARK Customer Support
803-438-9779