There's also the issue of course that some people are really not good candidates for this surgery for a number of reasons. Irresponsible surgeons would still accept these patients for this surgery.
And what would those reasons be, exactly?
More than irresponsible, it is downright stupid for a maxillofacial surgeon to suggest and perform procedures on patients who - from an orthognathic point of view - are not good candidates for them. Especially with all the diagnostic tools at their disposal. Doing a SG on an overbite or open bite patient is only going to worsen their appearance and cause problems, including functional ones. Particularly, if a recessed lower jaw isn't corrected (i.e. rotated) in advance, pulling the chin out can result in a vertical rather than horizontal bone movement. In my case, this has lead to constant pain and some difficulty speaking.
Since there is very little in the way of academic literature on SGs, especially in comparison to other jaw surgeries, I think it's important to discuss the reasons behind unsuccessful or problematic SGs such as ours.
"Most of the complaints" aren't gender specific either. Over the past 2-3 years, I've spoken to men and women who've had bad SGs, even if they've had good jaw surgeries at the same time. Almost all of them had nerve damage, pain/discomfort, mentalis muscle damage and soft tissue deformities. Many had undergone multiple revisions.
Had I seen this thread before my surgery, it would have helped me to realise that I was not a candidate for the procedure and that my doctor was only interested in making easy money.
If so many people are citing the same concerns - having been to completely different doctors, in different parts of the world - well, it seems to indicate that the procedure demands highly specialised skills and far more up-to-date techniques than are currently being procured by the average maxillofacial doctor and their 'bandwagon' plastic surgeon mates who think they can try their hand at anything they please.