You're in the middle of eating breakfast, and your mouth starts to feel strange. You reach up to touch your front teeth, and suddenly they fall into your cereal bowl. You rush to the bathroom, and as you're staring in horror at your toothless reflection, you finally wake up.

The "Teeth Falling Out" Dream

The "teeth falling out" dream is one of the most universal and common dream themes, and there are a lot of different theories around what this dream means — but not a lot about why we have this dream.  Instead of examining what the dream might mean, a 2018 study by Nirit Soffer-Dudek and Naama Rozen examined both the literal and metaphorical implications of teeth-falling-out-dreams. Based on their study, the authors suggested two potential theories:

1. That we have these dreams because we're experiencing literal dental distress, such as teeth grinding.
2. That these teeth dreams are merely metaphorical representations of psychological distress we're experiencing (or have yet to experience) in our day-to-day life.

Dream Interpretations

If you search Google for "what does it mean when you dream your teeth are falling out," you'll find article after article with varying interpretations and explanations. On the negative side, many blogs say teeth dreams mean that a person is insecure, that they're experiencing financial difficulty, that they're lying, that someone in their family is sick, or that they're a gossip. Other sites say that this dream is a sign of personal growth, that you need to eat more nutrition-packed foods, that you're about to make a major life change, or that this dream can illustrate a renewed sense of strength and self-esteem. And then, there's Freud… and if you know anything about his dream interpretations, you can guess why we might not mention them here.

So what's the truth?

When it comes to making sense of your dreams, the best way to translate them is in terms of your own symbols and metaphors. If you can figure out what the symbol of teeth means to you in your life, it's easier to understand why you may have had this specific dream. If, however, you find yourself dreaming that your teeth are falling out, and you wake up with jaw pain, don't discount the first theory of the study. This particular hypothesis might explain why teeth falling out dreams occur across cultures and countries: people, no matter where they live or how they grow up, have a tendency to grind their teeth. Sometimes, it really can be as simple as your brain trying to tell you that you shouldn't put off that dentist visit any longer.