One of the most common dream themes in human history deals with teeth. Whether it’s teeth falling from your mouth, a dying tooth, or a dentist pulling teeth out, we’ve all had a dream involving teeth at one point or another.
A dream like this tends to be disturbing to the dreamer, and it wouldn’t be shocking if you assumed it had a negative meaning. Let’s take a look at what it means when you dream of losing teeth or having someone pull out teeth for you.
What Does It Mean If You Dream About Pulling Teeth?
1. The most common dream interpretation involving losing teeth is that you feel like you’re losing power
Unlike other dreams, most dream experts agree that this dream is less about fortune-telling and more about the emotions you might be experiencing in your day-to-day life. So, don’t expect to see many omens on this list!
Teeth are a primal part of our ability to defend ourselves, so if you’re dreaming about losing teeth, that’s not a good sign. It’s a dream often sparked by anxieties and feeling disempowered in our waking life.
This dream meaning tends to be the reason why someone who got demoted from work may dream that a coworker pulled out their teeth. You may feel “toothless” to actually protect yourself or stand up for yourself during your regular day to day life.
Do you find yourself unable to speak up against bullies? Do you feel a certain sense of powerlessness, or fear being powerless? If so, then this could be your worries acting out in your mind.
2. It’s also not unheard-of to dream of getting teeth pulled when you actually have a cavity or a sore tooth
Do you have an issue with your teeth rotting away in real life? Don’t be shocked if your subconscious gives you a dream involving teeth falling out or a trip to the dentist. This dream is actually pretty self-explanatory.
If you’ve been noticing cavities and toothaches in your regular life, this may be a dream warning asking you to take care of your teeth. Start brushing and flossing! Otherwise, you might suffer from a loss of teeth in real life.
If you have been noticing some form of change in your mouth or breath, have a dentist give you a once over. This dream has an uncanny way of showing issues with one’s dental health.
3. If you have self-doubts or have been feeling social anxiety, you might dream of having your teeth pulled
Our smiles are a natural source of confidence. That’s why a slightly different interpretation of this dream theme involves feelings of insecurity. If you’re dealing with loneliness or a fear of rejection,
Dreams with broken teeth that need to be pulled often allude to a feeling of being unattractive. After all, we tend to judge people by the look of their teeth. If you’re feeling down in the dumps over a recent rejection or struggles in dating, you might dream of rotting teeth.
If you recently suffered a major humiliation in your social scene, dreaming of a person pulling your front teeth out makes sense. Having no front teeth is something that could seriously change a person’s first impression of you.
4. Having your teeth pulled can also suggest that you are undergoing serious mental health issues
Did you recently have a nightmare about losing teeth uncontrollably, or worse, having your teeth pulled without anesthetic? Having these kinds of dreams tend to be warning signs of your mental health needing care.
Dreams where you see yourself undergoing painful oral surgery is a sign that you may be experiencing severe psychological distress. This goes beyond regular painless tooth loss dreams and crosses the border to traumatic due to the implication of pain.
This is a type of dream one experiences after being severely victimized, being bullied to the point of self-esteem loss, or feeling hopeless. This may be a good indication that it’s time to book an appointment with a psychologist.
5. Pulling teeth can also be a sign of renewal or childbirth
According to psychologist Carl Jung, dreams of teeth being pulled can be a sign of birth if it’s a woman who’s dreaming it. Whether this is an actual birth or a form of rebirth, though, can vary greatly.
A lot of new beginnings tend to happen with some struggle. If you dream about pulling out baby teeth so that adult teeth can grow in, then it is safe to say that you might feel like you’re about to “level up” in life.
Did you recently feel like your career is going to take a twist or a turn? Then this may be why you dreamt about getting a tooth pulled.
6. Many dream interpreters agree that this is a sign that you will undergo a transition
Speaking of rebirth, another common interpretation of this dream involves transitioning. Many dental procedures are not entirely done through pulling a tooth. Rather, pulling the tooth is one step in many, such as adding an implant or getting a crown added.
If you dreamt of broken teeth that need repair, then you are going to have to get the tooth pulled. This can be a metaphor for seeing that your life has specific needs or issues that need to be addressed.
Having a tooth pulled is never a comfortable endeavor. There’s always pain and discomfort involved. This dream suggests that you will start to change for the better, but that you will experience some discomfort along the way.
Dreams of having a tooth pulled can crop up when you need to make a major lifestyle change. For example, this dream is common among people making a career change, or even people who want to lose weight.
It’s not going to be easy, but have faith that you’ll get there.
7. In some cases, dreaming of having a tooth pulled may mean that you no longer feel desired
Some interpreters might point out that falling teeth dreams tend to be indicative of how you feel about others around you. We pull teeth when they no longer serve us. Subconsciously, we might view ourselves as the “tooth” being removed.
If a tooth becomes too rotten or too broken to function, it has to be removed. Sometimes, we may feel like people see us in that same undesirable way—often despite our attempts to stay relevant to the group.
This may be a dream that a person feels when they worry that their job will become redundant. Here, the dentist is HR about to give them the pink slip, and they are the tooth that’s no longer part of the mouth—or organization.
8. Some studies suggest that this could reflect a fear of aging
As we age, our bodies start to break down. Unsurprisingly, teeth are one of the more commonplace things people see go missing. We all hear of old timers with dentures, right? It’s a trope nowadays.
Unsurprisingly, this means that dreams of having tooth decay and having to get teeth pulled can be a sign of anxiety relating to aging. If you’ve been considering getting Botox or have been panicking over grey hair, this might be why you’re dreaming of teeth falling out.
9. If this dream keeps recurring, you might actually be grinding your teeth
Do you feel like you’re actually losing your teeth in the dream? If you find yourself waking up with a sore jaw in the morning, then the dream you’re having is actually your mind making sense of you grinding your teeth at night.
A high percentage of people grind their teeth while they sleep. This can actually break teeth, so if you notice signs of it happening to you, go to a doctor for a mouthguard. You might be able to save your mouth by doing so.
10. Another interpretation is that you may lose a close friend or relative
If you want to go the more traditional fortune-telling route, then you should know that this is also seen as a bad omen in certain parts of the world. This dream says that you may end up losing someone close to you, either through an argument or through death.
The more the tooth’s falling hurts, the more upset you will be about the loss. If you feel relief afterward, then it means the loss will actually benefit you long-term. So while you may grieve, trust that it’s for the best.
Last Words
Have you dreamt of a broken tooth that needed to be pulled out? Did any of our interpretations hit the mark for you? Tell us the story of your dream in the comments section below.
