Abstract: A programmable dental x-ray inscription system is disclosed for use in physically inscribing developed dental x-rays with patient identifying indicia representative of the identity of the patient, the esposure date of the dental x-ray, the tooth numbers of teeth represented in the x-ray and other related information. The physical inscriptions have a depth dimension into the developed dental x-ray. The programmable dental x-ray inscription system includes a housing which is positionable on a work surface such as a desk or countertop. During the programming cycle of the system, the user places a developed dental x-ray within the projected support tray of the system, which is thereafter retracted within the housing. Then during the programming cycle, user-directed prompts and queries are displayed on the display panel of the system so that the user selects a suitable inscription field and enters data representative of desired patient identifying indicia.