Are there really only a few surgeons who are good in this field?

[Dontknowwhattodo]

The number of maxillofacial surgeons that I see people talk about on this forum is less than 10, its always the same names, Arnett and Gunson, Zarrinbal and ... Is this field really this small and limited that there are only a few surgeons around the world who are good at it?

[PloskoPlus]

The number of maxillofacial surgeons that I see people talk about on this forum is less than 10, its always the same names, Arnett and Gunson, Zarrinbal and ... Is this field really this small and limited that there are only a few surgeons around the world who are good at it?

Define good.  Anyway, I suspect that even the big names are often comfortable with a few techniques and may not do something that is actually more appropriate for you.  For example, A&G don't do high leforts.

[Tiny]

I think there are quite a lot of surgeons who are "good" i.e. will produce a decent result, OK bite, not kill you or give you some infection.  A lot of surgeons don't post before/afters so we don't know much about how good/not good they are.

Eg. in the UK there is Johnson, Sneddon, Thuau plus at least 5 decent NHS guys.  But none of them put much online. 

However, the surgery is so major, can have a huge impact on the face, so expensive, and such a tough+long recovery and is difficult to redo the most people want a lot better than "good" or "adequate" - the want "excellent".  It's just not the kind of surgery you go through for an OK result

ALso, most of us here are the ones who are doing the most research, and are the most educated about the surgery and we want excellent results - therefore we are looking at only the top 10% of surgeons.  A lot of people don't do this and take the surgeon suggested by their ortho

[Gregor Samsa]

It really depends on what you need to have done to your face. If you just need to have your bite corrected and don't need any major aesthethical changes then most surgeons should be able to handle that just fine.

[Alue]

Define good.  Anyway, I suspect that even the big names are often comfortable with a few techniques and may not do something that is actually more appropriate for you.  For example, A&G don't do high leforts.

Why don't they do high leforts?  The first surgeon I consulted with suggested one and although he's well respected in the area he's not a big name. 

[PloskoPlus]

Why don't they do high leforts?  The first surgeon I consulted with suggested one and although he's well respected in the area he's not a big name.

Good question.  AFAIK, they prefer multi segment leforts to SAPRE as well.