Weird dreams about teeth... is this normal?

[catgyrl]

I swear, ever since I got these darn things on, there's always some point while I'm sleeping that I dream about teeth. Well, last night's dream was a doozy:

In my dream, I had just finished my nightly cleaning routine, and as usual, I inspected everything to make sure there was no leftover food, no poking wires, closed bracket doors (yes, I'm paranoid about that now), etc. Everything was fine. But when I woke up (in my dream), I looked in the mirror and saw that ALL of my teeth had disintegrated! I had, like, 2 rows of teeth on both upper and lower, and they were all crooked, twisted, and all brown and nasty-looking, like I'd never brushed a day in my life. And because they were all twisted, so were the wires, coils and elastics. As I was trying to gently untwist everything... THREE TEETH FELL OUT! Just fell out onto the floor!! They were right in the front, too. I freaked out and tried to call my ortho, but got a recording that the number was no longer in service. I then tried to call my dad (please don't ask me why... it makes no sense already), and he was too busy to talk to me...

That's when I woke up. Of course, I had to run to the bathroom to make sure I still had all my teeth, and that they weren't loose to the point of falling out.

What in God's name was this about? Sunny - you were a counselor. Am I completely losing my mind, or do I have unresolved issues I need to work on. LOL!!

-Cathy

[Denise]

Cathy I STILL have dreams about my braces. It's impossible not to, they are a huge part of our life and you've just gotten yours, which means things in your world are upside down right now. It's exactly the same as the nightmares people get before their weddings. I told all my friends "you just watch, it'll happen to you too". And it does. Totally crazy and unrealistic things happening. I have dreams all the time of a tooth coming loose, and falling out. I think it's absolutely natural!!

[catgyrl]

Phew!! I'm glad I'm not the only one. That one was waaaaaay too graphic, for me. I wonder if my ortho would actually, FINALLY crack a smile if I told him that dream - especially the part about him skipping town! (I better not - his wife works there and if she hears me saying I dreamt about him, I might get extra thick wire or elastics when it's not needed.)

[Brace Face]

I have wierd dreams too. Mine are that my teeth are loose and need to fall out but the brackets just hold them there. I dream that I will have to wear the braces for the rest of my life as they are the only things keeping my teeth in place and without them I would be all gummy!

I have read that dreaming of teeth falling out means that you are sexually frustrated!!!! Seriously, I have read that.

[smylex]

It could be stress related. I had the same thing going on when I was in training with the career that I have now. I was having vivid nightmares about the job because I was under so much pressure during my training.

Eventually, I finished training and was released to work on my own and the dreams stopped being vivid and realistic and returned to my normal surrealist dreams that I like to have.

I'm sure this will be different once I go in for my final consultation in 6 days to find out what the plan is going to be for my own bracing.

[Phantom Muse]

I don't really dream... rather, I sleep walk/act/talk. I have had many a night where I have "awakened" to the horror of "lost" aligners, yelling at my husband for hiding them from me so I couldn't wear them! Of course, I was wearing them the entire time... I am certain I am working something out here (and I am not sure how much has to do with my teeth!)

[catgyrl]

Brace Face - you are one naughty lady, aren't you? I think I shall plead the fifth on that one, and instead go with what smylex suggested: stress. I work for a union, and am stressed on a daily basis. I'm also dealing with a visiting family member whom I can't wait to leave because I think he was picked up in a cabbage patch, or something. I can't see how my mother gave birth to him. She even questions it sometimes...

Phantom Muse - I am sitting at my desk attempting to eat a Subway chocolate chip cookie, and what little bit I was able to chew/grind just got spat out onto my monitor! You totally crack me up! I'm picturing you with your aligners in yelling at your poor hubby. Like people who look for their glasses, and they're sitting on top of their head...

[Denise]

LOL @ Brace Face!! That's hilarious.

Speaking of things we've read about braces.....when I told my ortho that I try to avoid ibuprofen right after adjustments because it can hinder orthodontic movement, he just looked at me and said "huh really?". Wow. If I knew that, and my doctor didn't...well I just wonder about that man sometimes hahaha. No complaints about my care tho, the ole teeph are looking pretty good these days!

[Sunny]

From the study I did re our sub-conscious ... it appears that dreams about teeth falling out when we have braces, or braces all coming off etc, is to do with control. We've lost control about what's happening to our teeth and this is a way of our mind telling us about it.

I think everyone has a dream or two like this during treatment.

A tad scary when you wake up ... ah?

[lauralea]

I used to always have dreams about loosing my teeth, and thats what I was told, that it meant that Iwas looking control. Now haventy yet had any dreams of being in braces, that I remember. Very interesting!

[catgyrl]

I totally agree that I have issues with being a control freak, but really... how much control do we really have over our teeth, in general? We brush and floss, just like before. Maybe it's because they're moving around all over the place and we can't do anything about it.

[Sunny]

Remember your dreams are tiggered by your subconscious mind ... so you don't have control over that area ... but it has control over you!

I loved studying the subconcious and still do 'subconscious therapy' for people who contact me about specific issues that they know are controlling them and they want some help with.

[ktgbraces]

I've been having dreams about teeth too. And the braces aren't even in my mouth yet!! I am definitely one of those control freaks so maybe that's why.

The funny thing is, when I saw an ortho last week, he examined my teeth and told his assistant "teeth grinder" and I was shocked. Never suspected that I was a teeth grinder. I told my husband about it and guess what? The next day, he said he had woken up in the middle of the night to a weird sound and after a while he realised that it was me grinding my teeth in my sleep! He couldn't believe it. We've been married almost 4 years and he has never heard me grind my teeth in my sleep. Makes me wonder whether I was dreaming about teeth grinding because of what the ortho said and therefore started grinding my teeth in my sleep.

[smylex]

Actually, teeth grinding is usually caused by stress and shows as abnormal wear on the occlusal (bite) surfaces of the teeth. Now that you and the spouse know about what it is you're doing, subconciously you are both going to be more aware of it.

[lilpinky0880]

Yup, I had those too. I don't really remember them, or teeth falling out, I think they were more about going to the orthodontist. Oh! and BRACKETS BREAKING! argg I've had several of those dreams. It's obvious that I'm trying really hard not to break them, ehh? I think one of the bracket breaking dreams I woke up crying, or maybe I was crying in my dream. I don't remember. After those I do the "slide tongue across brackets to check on them." Of course.

[catgyrl]

Well, I just had another "teeth falling out" dream again last night. This time, it wasn't just three teeth... it was ALL of them! All I had left was gums!! When I ran frantically into the ortho's office to show him, he seemed as unfazed about it as he does everything else I tell him. LOL!

[Phantom Muse]

Oh dear, Cathy! Maybe THIS dream has to do with your upcoming extraction?! Maybe now that all of your teeth have fallen out, your dreams will take a turn for the better...

[catgyrl]

Oh dear, Cathy! Maybe THIS dream has to do with your upcoming extraction?! Maybe now that all of your teeth have fallen out, your dreams will take a turn for the better...

I think you might be on to something there, Phantom! That was a very CRAZY one, and I woke up all stressed out. But now that I'm "toothless", things should be a bit calmer.

[Phoenix461]

About a week ago, I dreamt that my bottom front teeth actually came out of the bone and were sliding along the wires. When I had my adjustment yesterday, I told my ortho that I had an "Ugly Betty" braces nightmare. He chuckled and asked me if I dreamt that my braces were stuck to someone's bra. He told me that most patients have a dream of some sort but not to worry because my x-rays were fine. Whew!!

BTW one of my orthos was the ortho made up the clip on braces for Ugly Betty and he was actually in the episode putting the braces on Betty.

[kaylaa]

I had a dream last night that my cat had to get braces. She got them on and they were so tiny. She was also in this cat school and had trouble playing with other cats. By the end of my dream she was flashing her braces smile all over the place.

[catgyrl]

I had a dream last night that my cat had to get braces. She got them on and they were so tiny. She was also in this cat school and had trouble playing with other cats. By the end of my dream she was flashing her braces smile all over the place.

Kaylaa - I think you win the prize for the absolute WEIRDEST dream I've ever heard of!!! I am now imagining Cheshire Cat with braces!

I just had another doozy last night: I was at my dentist's office (though the lady working on me was NOT my dentist, cuz he's an older man who looks like my grandpa), and complaining about how long it's taking for my gap to close up. All of a sudden, she grabbed some pliers-looking things, clamped down on my left canine, and started pulling, pushing and banging on it to get it to move!! My dream ended with me looking into the mirror and seeing that she did, indeed, move my tooth -- ALL THE WAY BACK to my molars, instead of just a few millimeters, which ended up leaving another huge gap to close between my left incisor and my canine.

Then I woke up and ran to the mirror to check...

My explanation: I just got my band on to start closing the gap, which I do believe has closed at least 1 mm or so. I've become obsessed with checking on that tooth every single day to see if it's moved.

-Cathy

[mikeg]

I had a dream once that my dog ate my retainer.. and sure enough she did! $250 to replace it.

[MsMichelle]

Oh my goodness I thought I was the only one, I dream all the time that my teeth are gone and I have to run to the bathroom and look to check and make sure.

Mike that SUCKS about your retainer!

[justjenn]

I've had some weird ones too though not as weird as some of yours.

My first one was right after I got my braces. My teeth were all hurting and I knew they were moving. I dreamed that my wire came loose and fell out. When it did, my teeth all fell out because the roots were loose.

Also, after I first noticed my gap from teeth moving, I dreamed that a new tooth magically grew in that space to fill the gap and I was mad because I wanted the other teeth to move so my 2 front ones could straighten. In the dream I tried to pull the new one out, but it didn't work. I woke up and checked to make sure the gap was still there. It's still there today but I'm confident it's getting a little smaller, just not small enough fast enough for me.

[Denise]

Funny this post just got bumped back up because I had a dream last night about MY braces!! Today is my 15-month anniversary/birthday/whatever with my braces and I have three more months to go in my original estimate. Everything is still up in the air so I've been obsessing about my tooth movement lately. I am waiting for my laterals to straighten up in their sockets, they still hang kind of crooked. Last night I dreamed that the orthodontist put a huge kink in my wire, and the tooth started moving straight but I was in the worst pain I've ever felt in my whole life, like he was standing there cranking on the tooth to make it move. Boy was I glad when I woke up!

[kaylaa]

I had the weirdest dream last night. I dreamed that I was getting my braces and the elastic ties that go around the bracket were those fridge magnets that are in the shapes of letters. They were so big an akward in my mouth and my ortho had braces with really nice elastic ties on them and I asked him why I couldnt have those, and he told me it's because I'm not a doctor. I was so sad that I had to live with these huge alphabet magnets in my mouth.

I bet it's because I'm anxious about how they will look and feel. I get them on today at 2:30 and my stomach is just in knots.

[catgyrl]

kaylaa--

HAPPY B-DAY TO YOU!!!! Good luck this afternoon. Honestly, you don't need to be so nervous. I hate, hate, hate dentists and anyone poking around in my mouth, but this was a piece of cake (which, by the way, we should not be eating... but we probably still will!). If you have to have spacers put in, that may be a bit uncomfortable, but the rest is a breeze.

You should start a blog and take lots of pics! You will be surprised how much your teeth will change in just a couple of months.

-Cathy

P.S. I think the "Alphabet magnet ligs" dream trumps your other one as the craziest dream I've ever heard!

-Cathy

[Sunny]

Kaylaa ... sounds like you're dreaming of those grilz ... except you have letters instead of diamonds etc!

[gosling_up_on_rainbow]

Yes, probably once or twice a month since I've gotten braces, I've had nightmares about my teeth falling out. Never had any dreams like this before. They are such gross dreams! Usually half of one of my jaws just falls out (*shudder*) and I'm in public somewhere freaking out about it and it'll be a weekend or Friday afternoon so the orthodontist office isn't even open for me to get help at.

My boyfriend told me that dreams about teeth falling out represents insecurity. That sort of makes sense - insecurity about having braces? But I don't think I'm insecure about them any more like when I first got them on. I bet it's more that we can still feel the pressure of the braces on our teeth while we are sleeping and dreaming, and somehow our mind tries to incorporate that into the dream that we are having. Who knows?

Ooh yes, I mentioned the nightmares to the ortho assistant and she said that a lot of clients report having these dreams! That's very interesting to me, but I'm kind of a geek

[lasvegasann]

I love reading all of your responses........

[Rachel]

I've had a few weird dreams as well! In the first one I could feel one of my brackets pop off and when I leaned over to spit it out, all of my teeth and brackets fell into my hand! I was just clutching a pile of my teeth and they were spilling everywhere. When I woke up, my hand was in a clasped position as if I were really holding them lol. I checked all of my brackets and teeth immediately! Another one I had was that I was getting my brackets removed and when the ortho pulled each bracket off, every one of my teeth had a huge hole in the center. It freaked me out! I had another last night as well, but it was just about two brackets falling off. It's so interesting to read everyone else's! I'm glad I'm not the only one! lol

[Robot Teeth]

Ugh Rachel that is terrible! I won't be surprised if I have the exact same dream though. You're about a month or two in, right? How loose ARE your teeth at this moment? Does it freak you out? I don't want to feel like "uh oh, what if my bone doesn't regenerate correctly and they're left loose?!"

[Rachel]

Ugh Rachel that is terrible! I won't be surprised if I have the exact same dream though. You're about a month or two in, right? How loose ARE your teeth at this moment? Does it freak you out? I don't want to feel like "uh oh, what if my bone doesn't regenerate correctly and they're left loose?!"

I'm three months in today! One of my front teeth is pretty loose and continues to go into position and then loosen again, so that one tooth freaks me out more than anything! Some of my other teeth are a bit loose too, but I've gotten used to it for the most part because it doesn't really feel the same looseness as when you lost teeth as a child. I've definitely been concerned that they would stay loose though! lol Have you had any teeth dreams yet?

[abbaker]

Remember your dreams are tiggered by your subconscious mind ... so you don't have control over that area ... but it has control over you!

I loved studying the subconcious and still do 'subconscious therapy' for people who contact me about specific issues that they know are controlling them and they want some help with.

I would sometimes have dreams about my teeth falling out or getting knocked out (if I fell), but that was BEFORE I got braces. I haven't had a single dream about a negative tooth situation since I got braces 3 months ago! I must be so relieved to have braces that I've stopped worrying about my mouth as much. However I think my control issues have manifested themselves in a different kind of dream- whenever I dream that I'm driving, the pedals are always just out of reach from my feet and I can never brake in time or push the pedals hard enough. That dream has been occurring about once a month for the past few years. Yikes!!

[Sunny]

That's an interesting dream abbaker ... I think you're probably right that your sub conscious is letting you know your feelings in a different way to the other's above!

I think I had a dream about braces stuff, but it must have been a long time ago, as I'm not totally sure any more.