Dreaming about your teeth breaking and falling out can make you feel disturbed once you wake up. Losing something so crucial in your body can be terrifying, making it completely normal to experience anxiety and have many questions.
Before discussing what this dream could mean, we must understand that dreams should never be taken literally. The meanings of dreams are more personal than literal, and if you dream about your teeth falling out, that doesn’t always mean something negative is about to happen.
In this dream interpretation, we’ll go over the general symbolisms and the most common meanings.
General Symbolism of Teeth Breaking or Falling Out
For most people, dreaming about losing teeth can leave you with a negative feeling. But don’t worry; there can be both positive and negative interpretations of this dream.
In a study published in the Journal of Frontiers of Psychology in 2018, researchers revealed that 39% of their respondents reported dreaming about teeth breaking and falling out, which can mean that it’s a pretty common dream.
Dr. Katrina Zhao, a principal dentist at Midas Dental, also states that dreaming about falling out teeth is common, with many of her patients asking about it. Dr. Zhao says there is a name for it, called “Tooth Loss Anxiety Dreams.”
Though as common as this dream may be, it can still make you fearful about its possible interpretations. To help you make sense of this bizarre dream, here are the general symbolisms of this kind of dream:
1. Stress
Dreaming about your teeth breaking and falling out could mean you are under more stress than normal. Dreams reflect our subconscious mind, and when we are more stressed than usual, bizarre dreams can occur in a way for our mind to consolidate what’s happening in our waking life.
Stress has also been known to cause teeth grinding, which can also cause dreams about teeth breaking or falling out.
2. Growth
One of the many symbolisms of teeth is growth. When we are children, and our teeth fall off, it usually means we are about to grow new teeth, and dreaming about teeth falling out could mean you are saying goodbye to things that no longer serve you. Thus, you are moving forward in your personal, financial, or career growth.
3. Major Change
Teeth crumbling and falling off is about losing something important to you, so dreaming about it can also mean there is a significant change that’s about to happen in your life that may be painful at first.
These are the most common general symbolism of this dream, but there are so many meanings that it’s essential we also deduce the positive and negative aspects. Don’t worry, as the negative aspects are usually something personal to you and not necessarily something that predicts an adverse event in the future.
Common Interpretations of Teeth Loss Dreams
Here are the most common interpretations of dreams about teeth breaking and falling out, and we’ve categorized the meanings into positive and negative interpretations:
Positive Interpretations
1. Signs of Personal Growth
Teeth are known to be symbols of growing up since losing teeth in childhood means your adult teeth are about to grow. Dreaming of teeth falling out could mean a progression on something you’re working on, such as a business you’re trying to start, a career you want to improve, or a relationship you want to move into the next level.
2. Major Life Transitions
Teeth falling out could mean you are experiencing a significant life transition. Teeth that are no longer part of your body could mean you no longer have use for your old habits or objects in your life, and it’s time to move forward.
This could mean saying goodbye to an old, beat-up car, and you need to buy a new one, or you need to move into a new home, or you need to say goodbye to a relationship.
3. Rebirth
One of the most famous psychologists to study dream interpretation was Carl G. Jung. His interpretation of a dream about teeth falling out was a rebirth.
You may be going through a painful change in your life, but this change leads to a rebirth of your career, business, or personal life. Since you grow adult teeth when you lose your teeth as children, Jung believed the rebirth could be more permanent.
Negative Interpretations
1. Feeling Out of Control
No one wants to have their teeth fall out, which is why this kind of dream can mean something in your life that is out of your control. You may be going through a painful breakup, or you got fired from your job and have problems moving forward.
2. Feelings of Insecurity or Shame
Bad teeth or having no teeth can equal a lower quality of life. This symbolism could mean you feel insecure or ashamed in your waking life.
3. Feelings of Loss or Grief
Teeth falling out can also mean loss or grief. It could mean someone close to you just died, and you still feel a sense of loss or grieving the death.
4. Feeling Inferior or Powerless
You could also feel inferior and powerless in a situation in your waking life. There may be a change that’s happening or about to change, and you feel powerless in making things go your way, so you dream of your teeth falling out to reflect this feeling.
According to Sigmund Freud
The father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, was also one of the very first psychologists who studied dream interpretation. He stated that dreams about teeth falling out is a form of sexual repression. It reflects the cutting of the male genitalia; thus, it could also mean insecurity, feeling inferior, shame, and powerlessness.
Another possible meaning could be you may be having anxiety about sexual interaction with your partner.
Could It Be Literal Dental Issues?
In the same Journal of Frontiers of Psychology study we mentioned earlier, researchers discovered some teeth dreams are correlated with literal dental issues in waking life.
Rubin Naiman, Ph.D., who is a dream expert and psychologist, said that dream meanings are more personal than literal. If you’re currently suffering from a dental issue, it could cause you to have dreams about teeth breaking or falling out.
If you were unaware of your dental issues, but your subconscious has picked up that you may have a dental problem, you could also have teeth dreams.
It’s essential to listen and observe our dreams because these may symbolize subconscious issues your body may be having that you’re not aware of.
But then again, dreams can also be random, and it’s always up to you to understand what they mean.
A Word of Advice
An old saying found in the Talmud (a central text of Rabbinic Judaism) states:
“A dream unexamined is like a letter unopened.”
When we wake up and remember our dreams, we owe it to ourselves to try to understand them. Yes, some dreams may be random, but a lot of the time, they’re messages from your mind about current issues you may be having that need to be attended to.
Dreams about teeth breaking or falling out can mean you’re going through a significant life transition, you’re more stressed than usual, you’re about to grow in your personal life or career, or you’re feeling insecure and powerless.
Take some time to reflect on your waking life and if there are issues you need to attend to, changes that need to be celebrated, and problems you need to let go of to move forward.
FAQ
1. What does it mean when you dream your teeth break and fall out?
The general meaning of this dream is change or growth. Something could change, or you are already experiencing personal or career growth.
2. What does it mean when you have a dream of your teeth falling out in the Philippines?
In the Philippines, folklore states that dreaming about teeth falling off means someone close to you is about to die. To prevent this from happening in real life, you need to bite a piece of wood when you wake up so the curse of death transfers to the wood instead of the person.
3. What does a teeth-falling-out dream mean in Islam?
In Islam, to dream about teeth falling off means a lot of things, but it’s generally regarded as a bad omen. Some symbolisms include an impending death in the family, an obstacle about to occur, settlement of debts, long-term illness, distress, or sorrow.
4. What does it mean when you dream about falling out teeth and growing new ones?
To dream about teeth falling off and growing new ones means rebirth, as mentioned earlier in Carl Jung’s interpretation. From baby to adult teeth, this rebirth or change is regarded as permanent.
