Egg shells which were hitherto discarded as wastes were collected, purified and powdered into a particle size in the range of 5–50 𝜇m. A composite bone graft material in cylindrical form was prepared using egg shell powder (ESP), bone ash (BA) and gelatin. These bone grafts were characterized for their FT–IR, TGA, XRD, SEM and mechanical properties. The mechanical studies indicate that the composite having a stoichiometric ratio of BA (3 g) and ESP (7 g) has shown better mechanical properties. X-ray diffraction (XRD) data indicated the crystallographic nature of BA is akin to hydroxyapatite (HA) and both BA and ESP did not lose their crystalline nature when bone grafts were prepared. This revealed that ESP may be used as a component in bone graft utilizing the solid waste from the poultry industry.

A resorbable composite which acts as a active barrier in guided bone regeneration was fabricated using chitosan, demineralized bone matrix and bone ash. Its potential to form bone like apatite in simulated body fluid was assessed in this study. The mechanical strength of these composites was correlated with bone ash ratios and composites with better tensile strength were studied for their acellular bioactivity by incubating in simulated body fluid for 21 days. Composites without bone ash did not show acellular bioactivity which was confirmed by thermogravimetric analysis. In case of biocomposites with bone ash, there was an increase in residual weight indicating the mineralization of the composite. The composite containing bone ash has shown the peaks related to phosphate vibrations in its Fourier-transform infrared spectrum. Scanning micrographs revealed formation of apatite like crystals on its surface. Ca/P ratio was found to be 1.7 which is nearer to that of natural bone. Thus, prepared composites can be used as resorbable biocomposite in maxillofacial and oral defects.