The Meaning of Teeth In Our Lives

The Meaning of Teeth: Strength, Loss, and Renewal

I realize that I need to put more bite into my essays. It's time to chomp down on these postings. I really need to sink my teeth into this thing called writing. That way, readers will have something more than a morsel to chew on.

I have been thinking a lot lately about how much meaning we find in the most ordinary parts of life. Teeth, for example. They are so much more than tools for chewing. They are tied to strength, confidence, survival, and the ability to show ourselves to the world. They carry a surprising weight in our language and in our lives.

When we say someone escaped by the skin of their teeth, we mean they barely made it through a hard time. When we say someone lies through their teeth, we mean they are not telling the truth at all. When someone is filled with frustration, they gnash their teeth. If someone is armed to the teeth, they are fully prepared and ready. In the old saying an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, the tooth stands for justice and fairness, for getting back what was taken.

We also hear that someone is long in the tooth when they are getting older. That comes from the way people once judged a horse’s age by the length of its teeth. When life deals a hard blow, we call it a kick in the teeth. When someone needs to stand strong, we say they show their teeth. When a person is just starting to learn something new, we say they are cutting their teeth. And when something is rare, it is as scarce as hen’s teeth.

On the other hand, when a child loses a baby tooth, we place the tooth under the child’s pillow and, once asleep, the tooth if removed and replaced by a dollar. Next morning the parents tell the child that the tooth fairy visited.

There are even more ways we talk about teeth. We say put some teeth into that when we mean to make something stronger and more powerful. On the other side, losing teeth carries painful meaning too. A toothless tiger is something that looks fierce but has lost its power. The threat of I will knock your teeth out reminds us how much teeth are connected to strength and vulnerability. Even the simple phrase go chew on that shows how teeth are tied to action and processing the world.

What better way to express our love than to give our lover a hickey?

It is no wonder that losing our teeth in real life feels so devastating. I know because I went through it. Recently I had to undergo major oral surgery because my gums had become so diseased that all of my teeth had to be removed. It was a deeply traumatic experience. It was not just about pain or healing. It was about loss and change. It touched something deep inside me.

After a long and difficult process, I now have new teeth. They feel good and they look good. I can smile without hesitation. I can look in the mirror and feel proud. Sometimes I wonder how different my younger life might have been if I had teeth like these back then. Would I have smiled more easily. Would I have been more confident.

I have also met others around my age who are losing their teeth now, and for many, it is a heartbreaking experience. It feels like another reminder of aging, of losing strength, and even of losing a part of who they are. Some feel embarrassed. Some feel powerless. It is not just about looks. It reaches the heart.

And who can forget the story of Count Dracula who, with a single bite, took control of people.

Perhaps most important of all is the story of Genesis in the Old Testament Bible of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Against G-d’s orders, Eve bites the apple from the “tree of knowledge.”

Teeth carry more meaning than we realize. They are part of our strength, our smile, our voice in the world. Losing them can feel like losing a part of ourselves. Gaining them back can feel like winning something important that was lost. It is no small thing. It is life itself, still biting into the world, still strong, still present, and still smiling.

Thank you for reading and for walking this journey of reflection with me.

I hope this essay has given readers a morsel to gnaw on.