# Nightmare question **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 13, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightmare-question/740325 "2015-12-13T14:38:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightmare-question/740325/1 "2015-12-13T14:38:54Z")
This is triggered by _Inside Out_ but it’s more of a GQ, or maybe IMHO. At one point Riley, the 11 year-old girl whose head we’re in, has a nightmare with two elements before Joy and Sadness start messing with it. One is her at school with no pants on which is pretty universal, but before that she has her teeth falling out of her head. I have to say I’ve never had a nightmare involving no teeth in my head. Am I missing out or is this something made up for the movie? ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightmare-question/740325/2 "2015-12-13T14:45:29Z")
Teeth falling out is a very common nightmare. I know, because I looked into it after I started having nightmares about it. ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightmare-question/740325/3 "2015-12-13T14:49:16Z")
My first visit to a dentist was very traumatic to me, as he yanked out my tooth with no warning whatsoever because the adult tooth was coming in behind it. I have had many nightmares about losing teeth or (even worse) dreaming that all my teeth were suddenly loose. To this day I cannot look at a child wanting to show me their loose tooth. So yes, I can relate to Riley’s nightmare. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![pidgeon92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@pidgeon92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pidgeon92)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightmare-question/740325/4 "2015-12-13T16:27:36Z")
I’ve had many nightmares with my teeth cracking and/or coming loose and falling out. I’ve had other where there is some unknown sticky substance in my mouth, and I keep pulling out more and more, and I can’t get it all out. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightmare-question/740325/5 "2015-12-13T16:31:44Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > Teeth falling out is a very common nightmare. I know, because I looked into it after I started having nightmares about it. One of the most common ones, up there with being chased or not being able to find a class (you’d often forgotten you were enrolled in) on the day of an exam. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightmare-question/740325/6 "2015-12-13T17:18:15Z")
Since answers to this are going to be mainly anecdotal, let’s move this to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightmare-question/740325/7 "2015-12-13T17:21:43Z")
I have the teeth falling dream on occasion. The first time it was so real I woke in a panic and actually teared up when I felt my teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Orange\_Skinner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@Orange\_Skinner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orange_Skinner)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightmare-question/740325/8 "2015-12-13T17:43:50Z")
I’ve had this dream many, many times. Sometimes, it starts of with me noticing that a tooth is a tiny bit loose, usually a molar. I mess with it with my tongue, and it gets increasingly more wiggly very, very quickly and then falls out. The missing tooth’s neighbors fall out next, except they don’t require any provocation, they just fall right out one after the other. Pretty soon I’m down 5 or 6 teeth, and that’s usually when I wake up. There’s a much worse variant where whole chunks of my jaw start to crumble and fall out in segments into my hands. Both versions are extremely vivid and very disturbing. Not that I buy this in the slightest, but according to those pop-psychology dream analysis types, I’ve been told that the dream is about anxiety over role transition or about loss in general. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightmare-question/740325/9 "2015-12-13T19:27:57Z")
I name the last tooth left “Chomper”. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightmare-question/740325/10 "2015-12-13T21:39:58Z")
I’ve had – and still sometimes do have! – the “naked in public” dream, but, thank ghu, never anything to do with teeth. I often dream about eating, and thereupon wake up with a drool-soaked pillow. (ew!) ---
**Author:** ![dizzee\_dee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@dizzee\_dee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dizzee_dee)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightmare-question/740325/11 "2015-12-14T04:36:39Z")
I used to have the teeth falling out dream all the time. I haven’t had it since I ended my relationship with my family. In my case, I believe the interpretation that you are feeling powerless and unable to express your true feelings is correct. When I told them all to fuck off, the dreams stopped. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightmare-question/740325/12 "2015-12-14T04:54:38Z")
I occasionally have teeth loose or teeth falling out in dreams. Or I ruin or can’t find my contacts, or my eyes are cloudy or weird-colored. Also the student nightmare, specifically when I can’t find the office to register, I haven’t been to my mailbox all semester, I don’t have access to email, and I’ve just wasted all that money. I’ve had that one enough times that I actually end up dreaming that I remember I already have my degree and don’t need this one anyway. “Unable to find a clean working toilet even though I’m in a huge room filled with stalls” dream hasn’t happened in quite a while. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightmare-question/740325/13 "2015-12-14T04:58:11Z")
I also used to have the “teeth falling out” dream pretty frequently. In my dreams, my teeth would crumble like saltines, and I would have to keep spitting out the pieces in great mouthfuls. I’d spit out all the crumbs of my teeth, but my mouth would just fill up again as my teeth continued to slough off. I haven’t had that dream, at least that I can remember, in quite a while. But I’m sure now I’ll have it again, so thanks for reminding me :mad: I didn’t realize how common it was. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightmare-question/740325/14 "2015-12-14T05:07:44Z")
In fact, it’s been a while since I’ve had a nightmare of any kind. I used to have some variation of the “lost in school” dream pretty often, but that has been missing from my night time entertainment for quite a while. I used to have real doozies when I was drinking excessively. These days, my nightmares mostly involve something happening to my kids. A few months ago, I dreamt my 4-year-old son drowned as I tried to save him. It was vivid and horrible. I woke up in a panic. But aside from that, my nights have been pretty peaceful lately. ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2015, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightmare-question/740325/15 "2015-12-15T05:01:33Z")
I’ve had most of the “common” nightmares more-or-less regularly at various times in my life: being chased, falling, being out in public while not fully dressed, showing up for the final exam in a class I’ve never been to… I’ve never once had the teeth dream, though. Every time it gets brought up in this context, I’m just like, “wha?” ETA: I first came across it in the alt-text to this comic: [xkcd: Brain Worms](https://xkcd.com/719/) . I’m actually not familiar with the other “common” dreams mentioned in the comic either, dreams of “not fitting in your car comfortably, driving from the back seat, or veering all over the road.” ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2015, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightmare-question/740325/16 "2015-12-15T05:24:27Z")
I guess I’m lucky that I rarely remember a dream - not even the lucid ones. I had, for 20 years, one specific dream - it is the only one I can remember. I thought I could maybe jot down the last bit of a lucid dream if I kept pen and paper handy. By the time I was conscious enough to write, the dream had faded. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2015, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightmare-question/740325/17 "2015-12-15T05:34:06Z")
> [@Loopus](#): > > I’m actually not familiar with the other “common” dreams mentioned in the comic either, dreams of “not fitting in your car comfortably, driving from the back seat, or veering all over the road.” I’ve definitely had ones where my car is headed for disaster, or nicer ones where it can fly. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Orange\_Skinner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@Orange\_Skinner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orange_Skinner)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2015, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightmare-question/740325/18 "2015-12-15T16:48:25Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > …I ruin or can’t find my contacts, or my eyes are cloudy or weird-colored. I have the contact one, too! In mine, they either get all hard and crusty like when you leave them for too long in an insufficient amount of solution, or sometimes I go to put them in and they’re HUGE–as in, the size of a cereal bowl. In the dream, I can’t figure out what I’m supposed to do with them to get them to fit on my eyes…let alone how I’ve apparently gotten them in like this for the past however many years of my life. It’s really weird. > [@Loopus](#): > > I’m actually not familiar with the other “common” dreams mentioned in the comic either, dreams of “not fitting in your car comfortably, driving from the back seat, or veering all over the road.” I didn’t realize the driving from the back seat was a common one. I was afraid to get my license and learned to drive fairly late (around 22). I had awful car-related dreams all the time up until I finally learned how to drive, and this was one of them. It still comes up from time to time, though not nearly as often. I’ve had it where I’ll be driving from the passenger’s side, too. Often, I’m about to be pulled over and realize I’ll have to give an explanation for why I was driving this way, and am baffled as to why (or how) I was doing it in the first place. Out of all of them, I think the teeth one is by far the most unsettling. I’ll do some literal back seat driving any night over that crumbly, disfiguring weirdness.