Falling to pieces...

I couldn't say how often I have the same horrible nightmare. It's all got to do with teeth. I've got a love/hate relationship with my teeth.

On the plus side, I was born without wisdom teeth. Evolution in action, so they say. Since they're mostly for grass chewing, human beings are gradually evolving out of the need to have them. Anyway, a stroke of great luck.

When I was in elementary school, I went out for baseball. All my friends were doing it, and I was eager to do it, too. Trying to remedy a live of no athletic activities. To make a gruesome story short, I lost a front tooth to a poor attempt at catching a pop fly. Needless to say, it gave me a flinch to this day, and a host of difficulties with this tooth.

The nightmares started right away.

The temporary crown lasted from 4th grade until my second or third year of college, when it separated during the night. I woke in the middle of the night to have it loose in my mouth. Needless to say, I wasn't happy.

Since that time, at least once a month, I wake after having a dream where I lose my tooth again. I have incredibly straightforward and normal dreams. Typically, I dream of waking up, getting ready for the day, eating, driving, interacting with people. It's usually indestinguishable from a "real" day. Then a single, small event occurs that brings me back to reality. It can be as small as someone commenting that I'm wearing a watch (which I almost never do). As soon as I notice it, I wake up.

The nightmares work the same way. Everything normal, until I trip and hit my mouth on the counter, or bang my teeth too hard. I have the sensation and pain of losing the teeth again, then I wake up. It'd be nice to get rid of these somehow, but I bet this is one of those "haunt you for life" things.