Are smoking stains permanent?

Question

Yesterday for the first time I smoked an herb called wormwood (don't do it, it's crap). Some ash fell on my porch and I tried to rub it away with my fingers. I can't tell you how many times I washed my hands after that, but today my fingers still smell like smoke/ash and are slightly stained. I even tried toothpaste, which is supposed to remover stubborn smells.

Also, my breath still smells and tastes like smoke even though I've eaten many things and brushed my teeth since then! I've smoked cigarettes before and my breath smelled normal within a few hours. Will this go away? Also, since the smell is still on my breath, I'm guessing my teeth got stained pretty bad by the smoke. Are smoke stains on your teeth permanent or are they like tea stains?

Answer 1

The stain can be permanent and not permanent. Tar will sit on your teeth, it gets into places like in between your teeth and in any grooves, that a toothbrush has difficulty removing it from. The tar, just like other staining compounds such as coffee, tea, colas, dark berries, etc has been implicated in darkening tooth enamel over time and are called Extrinsic stains.
Worse than that are intrinsic stains. Teeth are constantly undergoing a demineralization/remineralization process. Bacteria on your teeth uses sugars from the food you eat for their metabolism, and give off acids. The acids demineralize enamel. When you brush and floss and remove the bacteria, the enamel is able to remineralize, that is reincorporate calcium, phosphorus and fluoride atoms back into the enamel. If tar is present when this occurs, the tar can also be reincorporated into the tooth. It is now a part of your tooth and what dentists call an Intrinsic stain.