Firstly, I'm an advocate of the 'abnormal' protocol which is gathering enough KNOWLEDGE on one's own and enough to either be close to certain as to what you want and why OR to REDUCE confusion and uncertainty enough so one does not go into a consult knowing little to nothing about what they are consulting about, in which case the DEPENDANCY on the doctor to explain every little thing will exceed his/her time to do so. Nor do they have any obligation to do so.
For example, a lot of, if not most of maxfax relationships are GEOMETRICAL; points, angles, planes, rotations. So a good grounding in that will allow a person to relate back those concepts. Of course, not enough to figure out everything but enough so that a remedial course in geometry is not required for the doctor to give in order for one to understand the relationship that maxfax ALSO has to points, angles and planes, rotations and displacements thereof.
Not to belabor this but just to say that a lot of BASIC stuff having to do with maxfax becomes self evident just like concepts in geometry and logic become self evident to those who have studied it.
Background in logic or anything that enhances reasoning abilities so they become more rational than irrational is also important to have. For example the ability to understand the concepts of one 'knowing what they don't know' and 'not knowing what they don't know'.
For example, the surgeon understands the basic concept of he/she KNOWS what he does NOT know. He knows that he can't plan out a surgery with precision and relay 'NOW' knowledge to you about precise plans when such precise plans are contingent on information that will present itself at a FUTURE time. So, requests for surgical plans with any expectation they be PRECISE predictions of what is TO BE done or commitments to do so, resolves to an irrational request, one where you need to know NOW a precise surgical plan whereas the precision you want is contingent on a piece of information that is NOT known NOW and requires a FUTURE time to know it.
As to the 'catch 22', the ortho and the maxfax BOTH want you to know what you COULD know and could know on YOUR OWN.
For example COULD one know that one WANTS surgery INSTEAD of ortho alone to fix the bite and ALSO advance out the jaw/jaws? The answer is 'YES'. One COULD know that they WANT one thing over the other and in the absence of knowing if what they want can be done, in which case the pursuit of information becomes one to 'find out' if what they want can be accommodated via surgery.
For example Patient A has an overbite and recessive jaw and knows he WANTS surgery to correct BOTH. He's also has enough background knowledge underbelt to know what he wants is reasonable to inquire about having. So, reasonable to want a normative balance to the jaws and a bite to go with it. If he goes to an ortho, he will be able to answer the question: 'Have you decided whether or not you want surgery or ortho alone to correct your bite?'
The other example is patient B who does NOT know what he wants. He doesn't know whether he wants surgery aimed at BALANCING the JAWS with the bite or if he wants ortho alone just to 'get the bite right'. He can't expect the ortho to give him a comparative analysis of both so he can decide on which one he wants. The ortho does NOT plan out surgery FOR the maxfax. Nor can he expect the maxfax to predict the OUTCOMES of ortho before the outcomes present themselves and 'because' he 'needs' this plan to decide whether he wants ortho alone or maxfax.
What's the DIFFERENCE? Patient A, KNOWING that he WANTS surgery will be offered more information (or validation) towards that goal than will patient B. Why? Because patient B doesn't know even IF he wants one over the other.
What do the ortho and the maxfax both have in common? They both want the patient to demonstrate some kind of RESOLVE, DESIRE or WANT of one thing over the other. NEITHER will predict FOR the other with any exactitude when your GOAL actually IS for EITHER of them to do that because you DON'T know whether or not you want one or the other.
That said, the 'normal protocol' is what is basically ABNORMAL for a LOT of people on this board which is to have enough background conceptual info underbelt as to use it as basis to understand and/or gather more info about maxfax and enough so to at LEAST know whether or not they want surgery or ortho alone. Again, from my POV, it's quite possible to gather and process enough information on ONE'S OWN to know whether or not you want surgery. I'm not talking about 'need' because need for it (information thereof) can be gathered after one KNOWS they WANT it. I'm talking about information processing abilities that allow one to make decisions under uncertainty.
It is NORMAL to have UNCERTAINTY about the surgery you are considering. But it is also possible to LOWER uncertainty or become more certain that you WANT surgery and enough to RESOLVE to having it in the absence of precise predictions of it's outcomes and also in the presence of what ever the inherent risks are involved with the surgery (which the surgeon/s you are consulting with should be able to convey). You just need to be in the capacity to know what you want and have a good idea why. Even if you are way off target as to why you want a type of surgery, as long as you can communicate WHY you want it is enough for the doc to tell you if that's a good or unrealistic expectation to make a decision on.
It's NOT so hard to understand that a surgeon KNOWS what he does not know, tells you what he does not know (where your teeth will be EXACTLY at some time in the FUTURE) and why you would not expect him to draft out a PREDICTIVE and PRECISE PLAN based on knowledge he does not have NOW when you want it when knowledge of such is contingent on some time in the FUTURE.
It's NOT hard to understand the reasoning why some surgeons would be reluctant to give a precise plan when the patient appears to need it to be a 'certain' PREDICTION of the OUTCOMES of the surgery. They would be concerned that the patient would misconstrue it as an absolute promise against the outcome. They can pick up on a patient 'needing' it for CERTAINTY and withhold giving one for that reason.
Some docs will give a surgical displacement analysis to SHOW you what their AIM is which will allow you to see if you are on 'same page' as to the aesthetic objective. They might charge extra for that. As to the ortho aspect of it, it would show where they plan the teeth to be/oriented (seen on the after contour diagram). But it doesn't convey with CERTAINTY that the ortho needed prior will be exactly on target with the surgeon's plan.
Suffice to say if you want a plan/proposal, seek out surgeons who give one. But realize, it's NOT an 'absolute' prediction of the OUTCOME. It's better used/requested to compare aesthetic PREFERENCES between doctors.
When the question is; 'How do I know what I want?', your f**ked. Because the answer is KNOW that you DON'T KNOW what you want. Don't expect others to know FOR you what you want if you don't know yourself. Wait for a time when you can express what you want, in which case it will be easier for you to gather (and understand) information as to what you want is possible or not.
