I have a reoccurring dream about teeth. Usually my teeth are breaking and falling out. I’ve actually felt my teeth crumble in my dreams and have rolled the broken pieces around on my tongue and spit them out. Once I had a dream in which a cat with super-feline strength pushed down on my lower jaw until it felt like it would break. Then I woke up to find that I was clenching my teeth – a symptom of my TMJ disorder, no doubt.

In trying to find out what all this meant I discovered that dreams about teeth are common and have been found in most cultures throughout time. In Greek culture, dreams about loose, rotting, or missing teeth mean that a family member or friend is sick and may even be near death. Some dream dictionaries relate dreaming about teeth to insecurity, anxiety – especially about one’s appearance – or fear of being embarrassed. Others relate it to a loss of power or to challenges in having one’s voice heard. Some interpreters see teeth as representing a life change, just as losing baby teeth represent a passage into adulthood. And, of course, Freud attributed dreams about teeth to some form of sexual frustration.

The only positive interpretation of dreams about teeth was one in which the dreamer gains teeth or has a tooth filled, which supposedly represents good fortune or the gaining of something such as knowledge. Of course, I never have this type of dream about teeth, nor do I have the type about growing vampire fangs which seems kind of exciting.

I’m not sure if any of these interpretations really work for me. Maybe these dreams are nothing more that my dreaming mind trying to tell me that I need to make an appointment with my dentist.