IV Sedation Dentistry

SANFORD, FL · PART OF OUR SEDATION DENTISTRY CARE

Asleep for the part you have been dreading.

IV Sedation Dentistry in Sanford, FL

Dr. George Mitrogogos administers IV sedation himself, in this office, for everything from a single filling to a full day of treatment. This page walks through exactly what happens, from the night before to the drive home.

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THE CREDENTIAL

100

hours of IV sedation certification, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Every year

emergency scenario drills, run in this office with an outside training team

Best of Sanford winner, 4.9 stars across over 1,000 reviews

dr george mitrogogos cosmetic sanford dentist

MEDICALLY REVIEWED BY

Dr. George Mitrogogos, DMD, AGD Fellow · IV sedation credentialed by the Florida Board of Dentistry

Last reviewed: Oct. 23, 2026

What Is IV Conscious Sedation Dentistry?

IV sedation dentistry is the use of sedative medication delivered through a vein, so a patient sleeps through dental treatment while still breathing on their own. It is a form of moderate sedation, which you may also see called conscious sedation or twilight sedation.

At Sanford Dental Excellence it is administered in-office by Dr. George Mitrogogos rather than by a visiting anesthetist.

The word patients get stuck on is "conscious." It does not mean you will be aware of the appointment.

"Normally with a moderate sedation, which is also nowadays called conscious sedation too - if you tap their shoulder, if you wiggle them a little bit, if they're not wearing headphones and you kind of raise your voice, they will normally respond, look at you. If you say, 'Hey, open your mouth or bite down,' they will do those things and then close their eyes again and not remember."
DR. GEORGE MITROGOGOS

That is the whole mechanism. Your body stays responsive enough to be safe. Your memory does not record any of it.

What makes IV different from a pill is control. Medication goes in through a line and is adjusted continuously as the appointment runs, so the depth can be raised or lightened in response to how you are actually doing rather than to a dose decided an hour earlier.

"I was there for my implant surgery and my memory is fuzzy and spotty, but if I did not have the utmost confidence in the staff, I would not have been there. I trust them completely."
Rosemary L. · Google review

Safe and Effective Sedation

Benefits of IV Sedation

Reduced Anxiety

It helps reduce anxiety and fear associated with dental procedures, making it a good option for patients who have dental phobias.

Increased Comfort

Complex procedures can be lengthy and difficult for patients to endure. Sedation ensures patients experience minimal discomfort and allows multiple procedures to be completed in one appointment.

Improved Cooperation

Completing dental work when patients have a gag reflex or physical limitations can be difficult. IV sedation eliminates those challenges.

Better Experience

If stress or anxiety from a traumatic dental experience is a concern, sedation can induce a temporary state of amnesia, so memories of the procedure are forgotten.

What happens during an IV sedation appointment?

You arrive having not eaten for at least 8 hours, with a driver who stays. A line goes into your arm, the medication begins, and within a few minutes you are asleep. Dr. Mitrogogos numbs the area and works, monitoring your heart rhythm, oxygen and heart rate throughout. You wake up finished, go home groggy, and sleep it off.

What follows is the same appointment, slowed down.

Stage one

Before the day

Your sedation appointment is set at your consultation, after a full medical and medication review. Nothing is scheduled until Dr. Mitrogogos has established that in-office IV sedation is the safe choice for you.

Two things get confirmed with you twice, about two weeks out and again two days before: the fast, and the driver. Nothing about this day is left to memory.
- 8 hours
  
  nothing to eat beforehand. Water and clear liquids are fine.
- 12 hours
  
  if you take a GLP-1 medication for weight loss or diabetes.
On a GLP-1 medication, you may also be asked to pause it one to two weeks beforehand, reviewed with your prescribing physician.

The driver: someone drives you in, stays while you are treated, drives you home, and stays with you afterward.

Appointments are in the morning, because of the fast. The practice runs two to three per morning.
Stage two

The morning of your appointment

For patients whose anxiety makes the front door the hardest part, there is a step before the sedation.

Sometimes people are so anxious we've got to give them a pill just to walk into the office. So we give them one of those happy pills where they forget. They walk into the office, they're already calm.
Dr. George Mitrogogos

Your driver comes in with you and stays. The IV line goes in and the medication starts.

It's a moderate sedation, which means they're still conscious. If you want to wake them up, you can still do that. But if you don't bother them - you put some headphones on, they're nice and numb, they're asleep.
Dr. George Mitrogogos
Stage three

While you are sedated

Two separate things are happening, and patients routinely conflate them.
- Sedation
  
  handles the awareness. You are asleep and will not remember the appointment.
- Local anesthetic
  
  handles the sensation. You are numbed as well as sedated.
We get you numb. If you're worried or anxious or whichever, we get you sedated. If you're sedated, you still have to get numb.
Dr. George Mitrogogos

You get both, which is why patients feel nothing rather than merely not minding. Throughout, you are monitored continuously.

You're still breathing on your own. We're monitoring your vitals - EKG, pulse ox, heart rate. But you can still cough if you have a cough. You can still feel pain if you're not numb. So there's a lot we can monitor and control to keep it safe - but you also wake up and you're done, and you can do long procedures, difficult procedures, and it makes you feel like you were barely even there.
Dr. George Mitrogogos

Comfort measures are not the clinical part, but patients mention them more than anything else.

★★★★★

They always offer a warm blanket while you are having dental work performed and they ask you if you are okay with what they are doing. They also offer you a warm wash cloth to wash your face when they are done.
Rosalyn M. · Google review

Treatment runs up to about three and a half to four hours. That ceiling is not about scheduling.

We normally don't like going more than about three and a half to four hours. That's about the max - because you start pushing a lot of medication there, and you want their body to be able to clear it out.
Dr. George Mitrogogos
Stage four

Waking up

You come round in the chair, finished. Most patients have no sense that time has passed at all.

The one thing I hear from everybody - it's the best sleep they've ever gotten.
Dr. George Mitrogogos

The other worry nobody asks out loud is what happens if they surface mid-procedure. It does occasionally happen, and one patient described it.

★★★★★

I awakened last year during the process for a brief second and I was greeted with a warm safe hello before I safely went back to sleep.
Debbie R. · Google review

The worry people do ask about is whether they said something embarrassing. Some do. Nobody in the room is surprised, nobody repeats it, and you almost certainly will not remember it.
Stage five

The rest of the day

Plan on being home. Grogginess runs four to six hours.

Somebody has to drive you here, they have to stay here with you, and then they also have to take you home. And when they take you home, they can't just drop you off - they've got to stay with you for a while. Because the type of medications we give, you're groggy, you're sedated, and we don't want you at home stumbling and falling.
Dr. George Mitrogogos

You will also not reliably remember the first hour or two after leaving the office. That is normal, and it is the reason your driver gets the instructions rather than you.

WHAT IT COVERS

What can I get done under IV sedation, and what does it cost?

Implants, crowns, root canals, fillings, veneers and full cosmetic work, combined into a single appointment of up to three and a half to four hours. IV sedation is quoted against the length of your appointment.

Everything above describes an appointment most people assume they cannot have. The reason most of them never find out is that sedation reads as an expensive add-on to an already expensive decision. With any cosmetic dental procedure, your first IV sedation at Sanford Dental Excellence costs nothing. So the question stops being whether comfortable treatment is worth paying extra for.

If you are weighing veneers, crowns, implants or a full restoration, the sedation that makes it bearable is simply included the first time.

Every fee is written down before anything starts. CareCredit financing is available, and there is an in-office dental discount plan, which is a membership rather than financing. Visit our sedation dentistry page to learn more about what can be done and why first-time sedation is on us.

CURRENT OFFER

Free IV sedation

a $750 value

new patients get their first sedation free with any cosmetic dental procedure

How is IV sedation kept safe?

By continuous monitoring and by a credential most dentists do not hold. Throughout an IV sedation appointment, your heart rhythm, blood oxygen saturation and heart rate are watched without interruption. Because this is moderate rather than general sedation, you also keep the protections your own body provides: you breathe independently and your reflexes stay intact.

That second part is what makes the difference structural rather than a matter of attentiveness. There is no breathing tube, and nothing suppresses the things your body does to look after itself.

"You're still breathing. In theory, you could still be alert, but you're snoozing, and we have to get you numb to do the procedures. You can cough if something goes to the back of your throat. You have reflexes, and it's pretty safe."
DR. GEORGE MITROGOGOS

WATCHED THROUGHOUT

Heart rhythm · EKG

Blood oxygen · pulse ox

Heart rate

Breathing, which you do yourself

Who is a candidate for IV sedation?

Most healthy adults are. Candidacy turns on medical history rather than on how anxious you are: a high BMI, significant cardiovascular history, severe COPD or asthma, or liver or kidney disease may make in-office IV sedation the wrong choice. That assessment happens at an in-person evaluation before anything is scheduled.

Why each one matters, which the pillar does not go into:

High BMI

Affects the airway and how the body processes the medication.

Cardiovascular history

Sedation puts demands on the heart that have to be accounted for.

Severe COPD or asthma

Breathing conditions change what is appropriate outside a hospital.

Liver or kidney disease

Both organs clear the medication; impairment changes how long it lasts.

A no on IV is not a no on comfortable treatment. Oral sedation combined with nitrous is frequently the right answer instead, and for most patients it works well.

Age on its own is not a disqualifier. What matters is health, and that gets assessed rather than assumed.

Why do most dentists send patients elsewhere for IV sedation?

Because the certification is expensive and implementing it takes ongoing commitment, so most general dentists never take it on. IV sedation is widely available from oral surgeons for extractions and wisdom teeth, and far less so from a general dentist for restorative and cosmetic work.

ELSEWHERE

An outside nurse anesthetist is brought in, or you are sent to a second office to be sedated and back again for the restorative work. Two schedules, two fees, two sets of hands.

HERE

The consultation, the sedation, the surgery and the restorative work are done by the same dentist, in the same building, on the same day.

One dentist, one building, one day.

On anesthesiologists, since patients ask. The distinction is real and it is worth stating in his words rather than ours:

"An anesthesiologist obviously is a medical doctor, a physician that's gone through school and then did their anesthesia residency. And they're the type of person that's going to offer deep sedation or general sedation at a hospital. They can do everything."
DR. GEORGE MITROGOGOS

A sedation dentist is a different thing: a dentist with additional sedation training and state credentialing, working at a lighter depth that is both sufficient for dental treatment and safer.

"We're dentists that have had extra training in the sedation area... but we're doing a moderate sedation. So we're not going deep to the point that we're worried about airways and people stop breathing."
DR. GEORGE MITROGOGOS

For a reference most people have, this is closer to the sedation used for an outpatient procedure such as a colonoscopy than to anything that happens in an operating room.

"I've had horrendous experiences with dentists and oral surgeons in the past, but this is the first time in my life that I am actually not anxious and afraid to go to the dentist, even for just a cleaning."
Jo Ann W. · Google review

IV sedation dentistry - frequently asked questions

Will I be awake during IV sedation?

Not in any way that matters to you. IV sedation is moderate sedation, so your body stays responsive enough to breathe on its own and protect itself, and you can answer a simple instruction if asked. But you will not be aware of the appointment while it happens and you will not remember it afterward.

How long does IV sedation take to wear off?

Expect grogginess for four to six hours after the appointment, and plan to be home for the rest of the day. You will not reliably remember the first hour or two after you leave, which is why your driver has to stay with you rather than drop you off.

Can I have IV sedation for a cleaning?

Yes. Dr. Mitrogogos would perform the cleaning himself in that case, but there is no procedure too routine to be done under sedation. For patients whose fear has kept them out of a dental chair for years, that is often where treatment starts.

Is IV sedation safe for adults over 65?

Age on its own is not a disqualifier. What determines candidacy is medical history - cardiovascular health, breathing conditions, liver and kidney function, and the medications you take. That is assessed in person before anything is scheduled, and if in-office IV sedation is not the safest route for you, you will be told so and offered an alternative.

Is IV sedation the same as conscious sedation?

Effectively, yes. Conscious sedation is another name for moderate sedation, which is the depth IV sedation reaches in a dental office. The name confuses people because “conscious” sounds like you will be aware of the appointment. You will not. It describes how your body behaves, breathing on its own and keeping its reflexes, rather than what you experience.

Find out whether IV sedation is right for you

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