Metaphysical Meanings of Molars and Premolars
The metaphysical meanings of molar and premolar teeth are different for every individual. However, there are some common themes and widely accepted frameworks for interpretation.
Molars and premolars are your most powerful teeth, the grinders and chewers.
Energetically, these big back teeth help you to process the challenges in your life.
Meridian meaning of molars
The meridian system of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) treats molars and premolars differently from the rest of your teeth. The meridians for each pair vary according to whether they are in the upper or lower jaw and the right or left side.
Upper molars and lower pre molars are on the Stomach and Spleen meridians on the left side or Pancreas on the right side. These meridians are associated with emotions including anxiety, self-punishment, hate and low self worth.
Lower molars and upper premolars are on the Lung (associated with grief and sadness) and Large Intestine meridians (associated with feeling compulsive, trapped, controlling or overcritical).
When you are trying to understand what is going on metaphysically with a molar or premolar, it’s helpful to take into whether it’s on the top or bottom jaw, and right or left side.
Learn more about the meanings of each quadrant of your mouth, and some important general advice for working with metaphysical meanings for oral health here.
Psychosocial meanings of molars and premolars
Dr Michele Caffin’s psychosocial framework relates each type of tooth to a particular aspect of your life. You can explore each of these interpretations in more detail by cross-referencing with the meanings of right and left, upper and lower quadrants of the mouth explained here.
The first premolars (teeth numbers 5, 12, 21, 28) relate to your ego, your identity and your desires.
It’s common practice for orthodontists to extract the first premolars of young teenagers with crowded teeth. But metaphysically, missing these teeth can weaken your sense of self and may result in submitting to authority figures even if you don’t want to.
The second premolars (4,13,20,29) relate to your creativity, hobbies and children.
These teeth can start to experience problems when the responsibilities of adult life, particularly parenting start to crowd out your own interest.
The first molars (3,14,19,30) relate to status and expression.
These teeth can be affected by how you speak up for yourself at work or at home.
The second molars (2,15,18,31) relate to relationships and daily life.
There is a close relationship between these back molars and wisdom teeth (which I’ll focus on in the next video and blog in this series).
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But these two frameworks (TCM and psychosocial) are just starting points for understanding and healing your teeth and gums, they are not sufficient by themselves. You need to be a detective, investigating the unique personal influences on your own teeth and gum symptoms.
Have you ever wondered whether there’s more to oral health than regular brushing or avoiding sugar?
Or whether there’s an emotional or spiritual meaning to tooth decay or gum recession?
Or why dental problems sometimes rise and fall with stress?
I wrote The Secret Lives of Teeth: Understanding the emotional influences on oral health to help answer these kinds of questions from spiritual, psychological and energetic perspectives.
Pre-order the paperback or e-book today, along with your choice of bonuses to enhance your reading experience on Kickstarter before 25 November 2022.
Making sense of symptoms
Chronic oral health symptoms can be the embodiment of an emotional or psychosocial pattern. It’s common to be able to trace your adult teeth and gums problems back to patterns that emerged in childhood or adolescence as a survival strategy.
You may have spend years consciously try to change the emotional pattern with therapy, trauma healing or emotional expression, yet the physical pattern can persist in your mouth.
Angry Abscesses
Abscesses and infections in your mouth may indicate a pattern of suppressed frustration or anger.
The abscess may flare up if you are triggered into anger in your current circumstances, or it can be a long low simmer from earlier in your life.
Look at the particular teeth adjacent to the infection to help you make sense of it.
For example, on your left side molars or premolars an abscess may be in response to a toxic intimate relationship or unhealthy family dynamic.
Infected molars or premolars on your right side are more likely to be assocated with work related frustration or injustice in the public sphere.
Gum insecurity
Gum problems around molars and premolars may indicate a lack of stability or security in relation to the particular issues governing those teeth.
Gum issues adjacent to premolar #5 could relate to insecure employment, unemployment or underemployment.
Gum issues around molar #19 may relate to insecurity in a romantic relationship, such as feeling jealous or betrayed.
Now you've found the spiritual meaning of your teeth... what's next?
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Misaligned molars
When your upper and lower molars aren’t vertically aligned enough to chew properly, it may represent a resistance or block to deeply engaging with life challenges, either in the past or as an ongoing pattern.
For example, if your lower jaw skews to your right indicate that you have avoided emotions, or not been processing issues, around family and intimate relationships.
Or if your lower jaw is skewing left perhaps you have avoided career or economic responsibilities or had difficulty with pursuing your professional or academic ambitions.
What’s next?
Please don’t take these suggestions about how to interpret your molar and premolar issues too literally.
They should be considered as prompts for self examination, and not acted on as a reliable diagnosis for yourself and especially not for anyone else.
Explore your own unique personal symptoms by journalling, in safe, therapeutic conversations with a counsellor or coach (like me!) or watch my free Listen to your Teeth masterclass for more resources.
This blog is part of a series which explores ways to work with the metaphysical meanings of specific teeth such as wisdoms, canines and incisors and how to interpret different kinds of symptoms in your teeth or adjacent gums.
Subscribe to the Holistic Tooth Fairy on YouTube to get notified as each new video is released.
To help speed up the process you can watch my free Listen to your Teeth masterclass where I take you through a guided meditation for listening to your teeth.
Are your teeth trying to tell you something that you can’t quite make sense of?
In this free live Masterclass you’ll learn how to:
- Tell the difference between oral health symptoms and the underlying causes
- Understand the metaphysical meanings of your teeth and gum issues
- Practice a simple way to tune into your teeth that you can use any time
Has a dentist told you that your cavities or receding gums are your fault because you are drinking too much Coke, you don’t floss enough or you need to stop breastfeeding your baby? And you know that isn’t true!
I’m not going to blame you or shame you.
The underlying causes of your oral health issues are not your fault!
Nature or nurture, ancestry or environment, free will or systemic oppression, unconscious emotions or the degraded food system
These are the factors that make your teeth and gums vulnerable to disease.
Even though your tooth decay and gum disease is not your fault, it is within your power to change.
You can turn your oral health around with natural strategies and healthy habits.