do you have a gouger?
Dental tools are often used by professional and amateur fossil hunters, as well as other hobbyists (jewelry makers, modelers, etc). Perfectly legal, as long as you don’t practice on other people. It’s not difficult to get nitrous oxide either, Airgas will deliver a tank to your door if you present yourself as a responsible adult (although strapping on a mask and self-administering nitrous oxide is a pretty efficient way to kill yourself).
Surgeon’s scalpels–I bought mine locally–are excellent for fruit carving, FWIW.
I do! 
My dad uses a hemostat to hold yarn when he’s needlepointing. [sub]What?[/sub]
Yes, I use my old high-school biology dissection kit for carving my Halloween pumpkins. I have replaced the scalpel several times, but the forceps, probe, etc., are very handy.
^
Reported.