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 What Stinks? Halitosis or Bad Breath

What Stinks? Halitosis or Bad Breath
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 4 to 6
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   5.05

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    bloodstream, colorless, multiplies, sinus, production, rank, medical, plaque, saliva, billion, halitosis, regularly, actually, tobacco, film, cavity

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What Stinks? Halitosis or Bad Breath
By Joyce Furstenau 		  
1     Pelicans and other fish-eating birds have bad breath. The Tasmanian devil releases a really rank odor with a yawn when stressed. Sometimes people have bad breath, too. Animals don't seem to be bothered by bad breath. They sometimes even sniff each others' mouths to see what they've been eating.
 
2     Bad breath can happen to anyone once in a while. Bad breath is the common name for the medical condition known as halitosis (pronounced hal-uh-toe-sis). Sometimes a person's bad breath can almost blow you away. How can you let him know he has bad breath without hurting his feelings? Perhaps you can offer a stick of gum or a mint without having to say anything. If it's a friend, you might admit that you have had problems with bad breath after eating something strong. This helps others realize it's not an unusual problem.
 
3     Stinky food can cause bad breath. Food such as cheese, garlic, onions, and even orange juice can cause bad breath. It comes from the decay of food particles in the mouth. The smellier the food is, the worse your breath will smell. When certain foods are digested, the stuff that causes the food to stink is carried through the bloodstream and then exhaled by the lungs. When you eat garlicky foods, you end up blowing broken-down garlic on others, so stand back or have a mint!

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