Extraction fear

[Kaiser]

I am 73 and have bad memories of dental practices in the 60s and 70s making me really scared and shaky in the chair. Looks like I am going to have a broken and decayed lower left molar taken out.
I am frightened of sedation but ok (ish)with needle.
Really worried about
Recovery time
The pain you get on day 2 or 3
Infection
I have a “clicky” jaw worried it will affect.
The tooth is only mildly aching so tempted to leave it!
Do you think it will go ok?
Sorry to be a wimp but I live alone so have to face this on my own .Thanks for any support

 

[Gordon]

Things have moved on a bit since the 70s (I'm 64 so feel your pain!)
Assuming you're physically OK then recovery shouldn't be an issue. I'd be disappointed if you had anything other than mild discomfort on day 2 or 3.
No reason why you'd get an infection afterwards, they're very rare
No reason why your jaw would be worse
Leave it if you like, but it's always easier to deal with it when it's not a big problem and on your own terms, rather than deal with it as an emergency when you really don't want to be dealing with it. Xmas day for instance...