Losing teeth is one of the commonest themes in dreams--or so the literature says. I was startled to read this over and over, since I rarely have dental dreams. Researching my own toothy dreams, when building this site, I had to conclude: either my dreams or my teeth are noncomformist. I think I know why, and the reason has implications for other dreamers.

I grew up eating a sugary American diet, but my mom was pretty aggressive about dental care. I had few cavities and lost no teeth. As an adult I had major food allergies and both refined sugar and processed foods seemed to worsen it, so I naturally gravitated toward health food. I just haven't had major tooth problems, and my dreams lack this theme. Yet dreams of losing teeth have traditionally been interpreted as anxiety dreams about the loss of powers, weapons, defenses... and I'm plenty anxious, a high-strung nervous type in fact. If they're anxiety dreams, I should have tooth-loss dreams like my friends. Yet I don't. Plenty of other anxiety dreams, but not those.

This suggests tooth-loss dreams are more literal than symbolic, and dreamers should quit trying to interpret them as worries about losing this or that. Take them at face value as warnings about diet and tooth care! If so, it becomes useful to note in detail which teeth go bad, and why. Such dreams may be diagnostic!

I'm not claiming all toothy dreams are literal. The dreams below are examples of tooth symbolism--just not the usual sorts...

RELATED TOPICS: weird dream foods - Meat is Murder - You Are Lunch - See also the full INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

The World Dream Bank has 1500 dreams and dream images plus 500 other pages on dreamwork and shamanism, creativity, genius, art, surrealism and fantasy. Unless otherwise noted, all material copyright Chris Wayan, 2001-2006.

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	THE DRAGON'S TEETH: by Wayan; 1994/6/23; a real-life nightmare, a dream mapping out life. I'm dancing on stage, in behavioral space. But right in the middle of the stage, erupt these... teeth?
	THE EUCALYPTUS WARNING: by Wayan; 1993/8/6, a dream on evading repression. Bad puns link an ecological dream of a forest being murdered by inches, and a dental exam...
	MAFIA DENTIST: by Wayan, 2007/7/10; a predictive comic nightmare. My dentist (a Haitian Mafia leader) sends a message to my dad (also a Mafia don) by dental cruelty....
	MY GATE: by Wayan; 500K, 8 illus., 1996/5/29; a breakthrough dream. The full moon rose, I turned into Weregirl, did the Moondance, and gnawed open the lock on my heart... CAUTION: NUDITY
	ON HER FOURTH BODY: by Wayan; 1993/11/25, a psychic dream-comedy. A cute cow-singer on her fourth body-transplant solves the gravity-riddle that's stumping Mr Spock...
	THE SEA-HAG RIOT: by Wayan; 100K, 1989/6/5, a wild dream hiding a warning. Aliens, hypnotherapy, dancing molars, riots, witches, flying pianos, lettuce... yet there is a point.

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