TD are so prevalent that they have even received portrayals in popular media, such as the Walt Disney movie “Inside Out" ( Rivera and Docter, 2015), in which they were depicted as a manifestation of distress (a reasonable hypothesis which we will discuss further below). For example, in one study, 39.0% of respondents reported that they had experienced teeth dreams (TD) at least once, 16.2% reported that their TD were recurrent, and 8.2% reported that their TD were regular ( Yu, 2012). Research on TD portrays one path through which the mind may distort somatosensory stimuli and incorporate them into dreams as a vivid and emotionally salient image these preliminary findings highlight the potential of studying TD in order to broaden our understanding of the cognitive mechanisms governing dream production.ĭreams of teeth falling out, losing one’s teeth, or teeth breaking or rotting, constitute one of the most prevalent typical dream themes. Albeit preliminary, the present findings support the dental irritation hypothesis and do not support the symbolic hypothesis regarding the origins of TD. This disparity in the correlates of TD existed despite a small but significant relationship between psychological distress and dental irritation. Conversely, TD were unrelated to psychological distress, whereas other dream types were (specifically, dreams of being smothered and dreams of falling). TD were related to dental irritation (specifically, tension sensations in the teeth, gums, or jaws upon awakening), whereas other dream types were not. Dream themes, dental irritation, psychological distress, and sleep quality were assessed among 210 undergraduates. The aim of the present study was to explore two possible hypotheses for the origin of TD specifically, TD as incorporation of dental irritation into dreaming, and TD as a symbolic manifestation of psychological distress.
They are especially enigmatic as they do not readily fall under the rubric of the “continuity hypothesis”, i.e., dreams of current and salient waking-life experiences.
Teeth dreams (TD), i.e., dreams of teeth falling out or rotting, are one of the most common and universal typical dream themes, yet their source remains unknown and they have rarely been studied empirically.
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