Objective To retrospectively analyze the effect of root canal therapy in the treatment of dental pulp disease in hospital. Methods A total of 71 patients with dental pulp who were treated in the outpatient department of Zhongguan Town Central Hospital of Deqing County from January to December 2022 were randomly divided into control group (n =37) and observation group (n =34). The control group was treated with routine treatment, and the observation group was treated with root canal therapy. The duration of tooth loosening, duration of gingival swelling, pain, quality of life, incidence of complications, chewing function and patient satisfaction were compared between the two groups. Results The duration of tooth loosening and the duration of gingival swelling was shorter than that in the control group, and the visual analogue pain score was lower than that in the control group (P <0.05). The scores of quality of life in the observation group were higher than those in the control group (P <0.05). The incidence of complications in the observation group was 5.88%, which was lower than 21.62% in the control group (P <0.05). The gingival index of the observation group was lower than that of the control group, the chewing force was higher than that of the control group, and the chewing efficiency was higher than that of the control group (P <0.05). The satisfaction rate of the observation group was 100.00%, which was higher than 89.19% of the control group (P <0.05). Conclusion Root canal therapy can achieve ideal therapeutic effect in the treatment of dental pulp disease. Meanwhile, it can shorten the duration of symptoms, reduce the degree of pain, improve the quality of life, and have a positive impact on the recovery of masticatory function.