In a paper of 1948 on the same subject, Lorand stated that the dream of losing teeth means a wish for regression to the state of toothlessness and nursing. He stressed, however, that such dreams, like others, have various meanings simultaneously. Castration fear and the wish for punishment are among such other meanings,

but at a higher level, for they result from the genital rather than the pregenital phase. The tooth symbol itself arises from the pregenital experience of the individual. The subject of this paper is considered under various headings: the tooth as a phallic symbol; the relation of false teeth and braces to problems of narcissistic libido and ideas of the false or deceptive; vagina dentata and its relation to impotence; teeth as symbols of relatives and friends; teeth as symbols of birth, abortion, death; and dreams resulting from work being done on the teeth such as extraction and drilling. Of primary importance among all the varied meanings is that of deep oral regression to primitive narcissism.