Losing A Gold Crown On A Tooth

photo courtesy of crownbuyers.com

The possible subject matter of dreams is, of course, infinite. Still, I am always fascinated by the variety of dream images that people report. What follows is one I have never dealt with on this blog.

A dream about a crown on a tooth.

My dream is short, but I remembered it for some reason. I was calmly picking my teeth after a meal. I was using a toothpick, and I was being gentle—not pushing hard or being aggressive. I was working the back molars on the lower right side when I felt one of my gold crowns give way. It didn’t pop off suddenly. It just kind of eased sideways a little bit. That’s when I knew it had come off. I remember thinking, “I have to get to the dentist soon.”  And I also thought, “I wonder if she can just glue it back in place, or if she’ll have to do some grinding and make me a new crown?” That’s when I woke up.

Some review

Since this dream is short, we can use the space available to review some of the principles of dream interpretation. There are three tenets that warrant mentioning again:  1) Dreams should rarely be taken literally. 2) Dreams are almost always about the dreamer. 3) Dreams are about an issue or a conflict that the dreamer is currently wrestling with.

Let’s examine these issues one at a time.

Dreams should rarely be taken literally. There is, of course, the phenomenon of the prophetic dream. The dreamer is asleep, she dreams about some incident—often unpleasant or frightening—and then it comes true in “real life.” I discuss this phenomenon extensively in my book Always Dreaming. While it is true that dreams can “come true” in this manner, it is fascinating to observe what happens if a prophetic dream is interpreted for its symbols. When the symbolic message is understood, often the “real world” repetition of the dream scenario does not take place. It is as if the dream were being delivered to the dreamer twice, once in the dream state, and once during awake times. If the dream message is understood the first time, the dream need not repeat itself. So even with prophetic dreams, it is better to seek a symbolic understanding as well as being aware that the dream might manifest outwardly.

Dreams are almost always about the dreamer. Here again, there will be those who will take exception to this idea. Dreamers who have had “visitations” from deceased friends and relatives. Dreamers who have out-of-body experiences that they can confirm by making “real life” visits to places they dreamed about, thus proving that the places are real. Dreamers who are given warnings in their dreams about the attitude or behavior of another individual. Once again, my admonition is to interpret the dreams symbolically. Often, the conflict can be resolved through analyzing the dream.

Dreams are about a current conflict in the dreamer’s life. Even though you dream about a past life or vividly remember a nightmare from childhood, the dream is still there in your consciousness because it represents an issue that you are still struggling with.

More on Wednesday.