On the Meaning of Losing Teeth in Dreams

Judging from the numerous contributions in psychoanalytic literature to the interpretation of the symbolism of teeth, it appears that at times analysts encounter difficulties in giving the patient a complete interpretation of dreams of that type.

Freud termed certain dreams about teeth 'typical' because so many people have almost identical dreams. He drew attention to the relationship between the immediate dream stimulus and repressed masturbatory desires, fears of castration, and the desires and fears connected with birth fantasies. Freud was of the opinion that the strongest factor in the creation of such dreams derived from masturbatory activities. In women, he believed that they always symbolically expressed parturition; however, he felt that there was need for further clarification of the possible varied meanings of the dream of having one's teeth pulled.

Following is the dream of a patient according to whose associations to it—and my knowledge of the nature of her deepest problems—the one final aim and wish was expressed, which I believe applies to all dreams of that type. She had two dreams the night before, about her early childhood aggression and parental frustrations, expressing attacks on her mother, father, husband and, in the transference, on the analyst. These dreams were thoroughly analyzed. The following night she dreamed:

I have a painful tooth, a lower front tooth, which is abcessed. I put my fingers in my mouth and pull it out. At the root of the tooth and clinging to it is the pus sac of the abcess. I thought in the dream, 'Why, that is just like a penis in a rubber condom with the seminal fluid collected at the end of the condom'.

Her associations to the dream were first to her castrative tendencies toward her husband as well as against herself. This thought led to the expression of her feelings of guilt and responsibility for causing her husband difficulties in attaining his orgasm. I was able to elicit even deeper associations along the