Abstract Background Oral traumatic ulcerative lesions (OTUL) are commonly encountered in clinical practice, yet there is limited research on their clinical characteristics and traumatic etiological factors. This retrospective study aimed to analyze the age, gender, clinical characteristics, and traumatic etiological factors in a large cohort of patients with OTUL and provide valuable insights for dental clinicians to optimize patient care and prevention strategies. Methods A total of 1543 patients with OTUL were enrolled in this study. Age, gender, medical history, clinical characteristics and traumatic etiological factors were collected and analyzed. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the significance of age and gender as factors related to OTUL. Results The study revealed significant variations in clinical characteristics and traumatic etiological factors among different age groups and between genders. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that both age and gender were significant factors related to OTUL. Conclusion The clinical characteristics of OTUL and traumatic etiological factors appear to be significantly different according to age and gender. More targeted prevention strategies should be implemented for all age and gender groups.