Bad Breath

THOUGH MY wife LaVeta generously moved the kids' bedtime from 8 to 10 p.m. once school ended, the little ones want more. But our feeling is simple: It's summer. If you're a kid and you can't get it in between the crack of dawn and 10 p.m., shame on you. That cold reality didn't stop our kids from trying to game the system Thursday night. It was around 9:45 when LaVeta, who'd had enough of the Cartoon Network for one day, went upstairs to regain her sanity by watching grown-up TV. It was now my job to get the kids to bed on time.

There's a breath freshener ad on TV in which a waiter, leaning over to take a diner's order, gets a a whiff of her breath and falls over backward . . . Very funny. But how funny would it be if someone actually reacted that way to your breath? Maybe the waiter wouldn't fall down . . . but he might noticeably back off, glare and wrinkle his nose. How would you feel if other people backed off, too? You might assume they are thinking: Ugh? Why doesn't he (or she) use a toothbrush?

Every time he opened his mouth, Robin Cox was in danger of disturbing the peace. He didn't have to utter a word. His breath said it all. What it said was baaaad. Things clued him in to just how bad. A colleague would turn her head. People in the elevator would inch away. A client would wince. And there were times when the indications were somewhat less subtle. "My wife would get in the car and say, 'Honey, your breath stinks,' " said Cox. A real estate broker in Fort Washington, a job that requires a lot of talking, Cox was never far from a stick of gum. But that would simply mask the problem temporarily.

DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend recently started turning away when I try to kiss him. When I asked him why, he explained that he has developed into a "germaphobe. " In the beginning of our relationship, we never had this problem. What is happening? - Never Been Kissed, Lately DEAR NEVER: Your boyfriend may be embarrassed to tell you that your breath is unpleasant. Or he may be trying to distance himself romantically. I recommend you ask him directly if either of these could account for the change in his behavior.

INDIANAPOLIS HER BAD BREATH LEADS TO DEATH A man was convicted of strangling his girlfriend in a fight prosecutors said started when he refused to have sex with her because of her bad breath. Kenneth P. Faust, 48, could get 30 to 60 years in prison at sentencing Dec. 15. He was found guilty Wednesday of murder in the slaying of 42-year-old Kathleen A. Bond. Deputy Prosecutor Carol Orbison said the fight began after Faust returned from a bar about midnight. "She wanted to make love.

How do you tell someone that their bad breath could curdle cream? One way is to have Philadelphia periodontist Jon Richter do it. The Center for Breath Disorders, which Richter founded here in 1993, will send your dragon-mouthed friends a free letter or e-mail that politely tells them their breath stinks. "I got one of those 'Rat-on-a-friend' e-mails, I don't know who from, telling me I might have this problem," said Roger, a suburban Philadelphia businessman who requested anonymity.

David Luciano said he would never smoke because it would make his eyes red and watery. Selena Arce said she would avoid cigarettes because she did not want bad breath. Jennifer Brown said she would not smoke because it would keep her from performing her best in the choir. Melyssa Colon said it was just "gross. " None of the 10-year-olds mentioned the prospects of heart disease, cancer or emphysema. And that was just what Phyllis Spilove expected when she spoke to the 25 fourth graders at Washington Middle School yesterday about the hazards of smoking.

A REAL SPORT TO THE END, HE GOES OUT WITH A BANG Chuck Roberts got his dying wish. And was it ever a blast! Roberts died in January but on Sunday, on what would have been his 65th birthday, about 40 friends and relations gathered at the spot where he spent many a Saturday shooting targets and the breeze. Following instructions in Roberts' will, they blasted his ashes over fields near Lawsonville, N.C. "We felt he was here with us," said Robert Carl, a close friend who inherited Roberts' favorite shotgun, a 12-gauge number.

1QUIT SMOKING. The verdict has been in on this one since 1960, when the Surgeon General announced that smoking was harmful to your health. Besides that, it stains your teeth and hands, and gives you halitosis (bad breath). 2WEAR A SEAT BELT. Statistics show that seat belts add to longevity and help alleviate potential injuries in car crashes. Buckle down and buckle up. 3FLOSS YOUR TEETH. Recent studies make a direct connection between longevity and flossing. It's simple - brush and floss every day. 4DON'T DRINK TOO MUCH.

Every year, usually about the middle of October, Salty got this terrible pain in the gut. The symptoms were easy to spot: lethargy, bad breath, terrible temper, loss of appetite, abnormal "worping. " Then there were the bubbles. The tiny bubbles Salty left as he made his way around the pool. The pain lasted almost four months. By February it was gone. Doctors thought it might be an ulcer. But they couldn't be sure. They couldn't get close enough to Salty to examine him. They'd approach him, and he'd sort of flip out . . . on all fours.

1QUIT SMOKING. The verdict has been in on this one since 1960, when the Surgeon General announced that smoking was harmful to your health. Besides that, it stains your teeth and hands, and gives you halitosis (bad breath). 2WEAR A SEAT BELT. Statistics show that seat belts add to longevity and help alleviate potential injuries in car crashes. Buckle down and buckle up. 3FLOSS YOUR TEETH. Recent studies make a direct connection between longevity and flossing. It's simple - brush and floss every day. 4DON'T DRINK TOO MUCH.

This year marks the 90th anniversary of a signal moment in advertising history: the first time a problem was turned into a social stigma so a company could sell a product to fix it. In 1922, Gerard Lambert was in his office at the family's pharmaceutical company in St. Louis. One of his employees read him an article in a British medical journal that used the word halitosis to describe bad breath. Lambert's father had helped invent a product called Listerine, which dentists used as an antiseptic and which Lambert Pharmaceutical Co. marketed for a whole range of uses, from treating gonorrhea to cleaning floors.

DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend recently started turning away when I try to kiss him. When I asked him why, he explained that he has developed into a "germaphobe. " In the beginning of our relationship, we never had this problem. What is happening? - Never Been Kissed, Lately DEAR NEVER: Your boyfriend may be embarrassed to tell you that your breath is unpleasant. Or he may be trying to distance himself romantically. I recommend you ask him directly if either of these could account for the change in his behavior.

THOUGH MY wife LaVeta generously moved the kids' bedtime from 8 to 10 p.m. once school ended, the little ones want more. But our feeling is simple: It's summer. If you're a kid and you can't get it in between the crack of dawn and 10 p.m., shame on you. That cold reality didn't stop our kids from trying to game the system Thursday night. It was around 9:45 when LaVeta, who'd had enough of the Cartoon Network for one day, went upstairs to regain her sanity by watching grown-up TV. It was now my job to get the kids to bed on time.

DEAR ABBY: I am a 20-year-old female who has recently come to terms with the fact that I am bisexual. My problem lies in the fact that I am strongly attracted to one of my best friends. I have liked her for several years, and she is a large part of the reason I discovered I was bisexual. I know she is straight and won't ever feel the same about me, but every time I'm around her, my romantic feelings for her start up again. It has reached the point where I'm considering avoiding her to stop these feelings.

John Timpane is media writer/editor for The Inquirer Art Linkletter was a very nice man. I ought to know. In 1963, I was a kid on House Party , saying the darndest things. The CBS producers came to our school, Immaculate Heart of Mary in Santa Ana, Calif., in a procession only a little less than papal. They all shared the twinkle in the Linkletter eye, his knack for getting kids to spill. I have no idea what I said, but they must have loved it, because I got on the show.

Fellas, beware - disappear and come back with chocolate if your girl has gotten to this essay. Forgive me, I was shot with truth serum before writing it. It seems every girl I've kissed since the eighth grade never knew what was really on my mind. Take Rebecca. She was the best girl basketball player in school and played with the boys during free play. She always owned her own ball. One time while guarding her, I reached to swipe the ball, yet the roundness I found gave me a shot of hormones from which I never recovered.

He wears too much cologne. She could use some for her body odor. He sings along - badly, loudly - to the radio. And speaking of loud, must everyone overhear her steamy phone call about "last night?" You can choose your friends, but you can't choose your coworkers. Lord knows it's difficult enough to go to work some days without the added aggravation of loudmouths, gum-crackers, and the greasy-haired gross-outs who could win trophies for bad odors, bad breath and bad grooming.

Time is called and the catcher walks to the mound. Often these days in baseball, it's time for "The Coverup. " The Coverup, as invented - or at least perfected - by Phillies righthander Curt Schilling, involves covering one's face with a glove so no lips are read during The All-Important Discussion. You've seen it. You might not realize, however, that you've been seeing it for eight seasons. "I started that during the playoffs and World Series in 1993," Schilling said.

How do you tell someone that their bad breath could curdle cream? One way is to have Philadelphia periodontist Jon Richter do it. The Center for Breath Disorders, which Richter founded here in 1993, will send your dragon-mouthed friends a free letter or e-mail that politely tells them their breath stinks. "I got one of those 'Rat-on-a-friend' e-mails, I don't know who from, telling me I might have this problem," said Roger, a suburban Philadelphia businessman who requested anonymity.